Be it buying, fixing, renting it out, managing the rental, selling, refinancing or anything else, investors look for systems that can help them optimize their costs across multiple operations.

If you are looking to optimize your growth, then leverage is the only path.  

Love the optimism @Kenneth Donaghy, but @Dan Heuschele (and Ben) is right.

Any ideas on how to optimize the $50k we spent to upgrade our rental would be much appreciated.

To become in the top 20% of listings in any area, it takes 3 things: Professional photos, a listing optimized for the platform that you are on (page rank), and dynamic pricing (to adjust for occupancy rates). 

Now if you optimize the two and go specific with locations, buying indexes and buying puts, it's still going to like favor equities.

Understanding the nuances of Backdoor Roth IRAs can be a game-changer in optimizing wealth-building opportunities.

VRBO is a great next step, especially if you're totally optimized on Airbnb and are getting the most out of it that you can. 

Be OK with the fact that you may pick sub-optimal investments in a sub-optimal niche. 

I’m very happy to hear your optimism for appreciation and that you’re seeing transplants.