Chicago is not the ideal market for solar because our electricity is relatively cheap and sunshine days moderate. 

More absorption in the market and less new builds, plus we have had moderate population growth.  

Then, estimate $10 per sq ft for cosmetic damage, $15 per sq ft for moderate rehab, and $20 for significant rehab.

When investing in real estate, you should do well in times of economic expansion/prosperity and moderate to high inflation.

With moderate increases this year, we’ll be at a positive cash flow of over $2,000/month ([$3,500 income - $1,500 mortgage] - Taking into account Cap-X, vacancy, etc. and cash flow is still over $1,500 which meets our goal of $500/door).Fitting that its in the "Milk District", because its certainly a cash cow for us!

In more moderate to lower income areas people tend to live more hand to mouth so when economy starts going down it can become a big domino effect.

So far I've complete a medium level rehab on a dilapidated property (Middletown) that's been in my family since the 1950s/1960s  which is currently a rental property I manage for my mother, done a moderate amount of repairs on her house (Middletown), and purchased my own fixer upper (4 unit house-hack in Caldwell) where I've done a full rehab on one unit and medium to light work on the other units.

Although I'm not promoting myself as an educator and do not provide any formal curriculum or program, I do foster a "learn by doing" experience from the nature of the JV relationshipI hope this helps to answer your question about the motivation from the experienced investor side.Bob***Moderator note that this reply is to respond to the poster's question and not intended to be a promotion of any of kind***

I've got a moderate but mostly cosmetic rehab on a single family home coming up.  

If you are looking for a place to invest disposable income and get a moderate return higher than that of the stock market the answer is probably yes.