Then buy houses at about a 10% discount.Buy house 1 for 180k and put down 45k and use 10k for some minor refresh (paint, new appliances go a long way).Buy house 2 for 180k and put down your 45k (25%) and use another 10k for some minor refresh.Now you owe 360k in loans.

Scratch and dents that can be hidden either with paint or behind a cabinet.

(New roof, paint, etc) and proceeds even if we paid capital gains taxes could pay down other properties debt including adjustable HELOCS which would double our annual income but of course we would lose a door. 1 property is currently vacant and I anticipate at least $10k to refresh including new gutters.

SFH deal with schools, jobs, paint color, yard size, etc.

The smell of fresh paint lol, to me nothing says this place is nice and fresh than that.

This includes small painting projects, deck refinishing, fence repairs, landscaping, etc.

I would make the property habitable whatever that might mean fixing plumbing and paint and concurrently I think you have to do lease violations and start eviction.

Fresh paint throughout, minor repairs, updated outlets/switches, backsplash tile in kitchen/bathroom.

No issues with @Costin I. deciding Steadily wasn't your best fit but you're painting with a very broad brush to say their insurance is only for total losses or that they're systematically over-insuring their properties to keep deductibles high. 

People need to see a pallet that they want to paint.