You're by the water, so a couple of specimen-sized palms somewhere would definitely be in order.All this should be easily done within your budget, and will DRAMATICALLY change the outward appearance/curb appeal and VALUE of the property, no question.Esthetics for a property don't have an exact mathmatical equation for ROI.

@Pete Mathias I own a number of SFRs in East Tacoma and as others have said, neighborhoods can vary dramatically block by block.

I had to make some dramatic changes in order to save up.

Looking at historical sales data, the average home sale price has risen dramatically since 2010, which leaves me thinking it may soon plateau and decline.

However the population drain isn't as dramatic as the stats you read would lead you to believe.

I had another property we bought earlier this year that we started our offer $400k under list and purchased it for $250k under list.I use these dramatic examples to illustrate that it doesnt matter what the list price is....what matters is what is realistic for the market.

Student housing is probably still a sound investment, just don’t expect the dramatic increases seen last year in students from India to happen every year. 

It's completely feasible to achieve enormous levels of success investing out of state - but keep in mind that when you get involved in a deal that is not local you're losing some control, and your visibility & oversight of the deal is dramatically diminished.Unless you're buying a turn key or getting into a PPM or some other commercial investment vehicle with a group that is managed and regulated, you may want to consider keeping it local until you've gained the experience and knowledge, and developed the out of state relationships necessary to be successful from a distance. 

Its the big ol’ saying…buy low, sell high.The 2008-2010 selling/buying spree may repeat again if the trade war continues and international investors decrease dramatically their investments here.

Thanks again, you guys have changed my perspective on REI dramatically.