Philadelphia has implemented various forms legislation over the years between abatements, land banks and density bonuses geared towards promoting development in areas that suffered from disinvestment and housing affordability challenges with some legislation having been more effective than others. 

Ultimately, it will come down to timing.

Some owners delay repairs, underfund turns, and create headaches for tenants, which ultimately falls on you.

I think you would need to ultimately know what your goals are and honestly what your budget is.

Ultimately, it depends on your goals (low rates, fast turnaround, etc.).

And if you are going to ultimately just disable the account, then skip the fine altogether as it sends a bad message to the community. 

If you want more info on Cleveland you should read The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods.

I'm starting to wonder if Dealmachine is just really great at promotion of the product.

All said, you will find many folks within these forums that are strong promoters of self-directed IRAs.

A capital improvement is not - it gets added to the basis which ultimately reduces the tax due on sale but it’s not tax deductible in the sense in reduces current income.