You just attract the cheap non-loyal customers willing to eat anything to fill up their belly.

It's also not a business for people with little to no capital.Maintenance and watching your expenses are a part of the game.Successful landlords have systems in place to deal with problems that come up and they SCREEN tough as your tenant is essentially your business partner.Another thing, you make your money when you buy correctly... applies even to landlording... certain areas and price points will attract certain tenant quality.

We attract a lot of clients from the NJ area as many realize just how close the commute actually is. 

Gwinnett as the yields are not that attractive in southforsyforsyth and north fulton as they used to be. 

Although it is not a bad area it doesn't attract anywhere near the kind of tenant as Irvington does.

Do you go cheap using vinyl and bland appliances even for a first time home buyer market or do go with tile and stainless steel to attract and be the out front property? 

That is not a particularly attractive investment.There are other factors to consider, but I'd have to be convinced to keep it.

The biggest benefit in my eyes in not the extra money you make in being able to charge more for rent, but the fact that you will be attracting a much "better" tenant.

That conversation would focus on providing different scenarios for the PLs that might still be attractive to them but less onerous on you.  

This would also make the offer more attractive to the seller because they get a reasonable amount of cash upfront for something that they value(regardless of the condition they value it with emotion) and a decent monthly income.