At pure retail, a bathtub remodel could cost you $18,000 (my in-laws just paid that much to rip out a tub, and put in a walk-in shower).  

A Lenders cannot lend you purely on rental income.. even if its a basement apartment it needs to be legal if you want to consider the income from it.. 

Community college and other government buildings were just a short drive away, making our location ideal for career and educational opportunities.Once the renovations were complete, we moved into our transformed home, filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Community college and other government buildings were just a short drive away, making our location ideal for career and educational opportunities.Once the renovations were complete, we moved into our transformed home, filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment.

Saying that, if you are looking at an area for the cash flow purely, I would recommend Cincinnati, let me know if you interested!

I own a STR cabin in northern MI, where I'm from, that's been doing pretty well and so I've had the idea to buy another similar property up there (I do have a great husband/wife team that takes care of the place, pure gold), or something similar outside of Nashville that I could manage and occasionally enjoy myself!

@Mike SmithI agree with @Howard KlahrThe value of the appraisal, and this is pure speculation, is probably placing most of the weight on the market approach.

@Nick Brubaker this is purely a lender issue as we can put any entity in the First Named Insured position when starting a policy. 

If you're purely focused on duplexes I would broaden your search to Garner, Knightdale, Durham, Zebulon etc.

What you need is to connect with purely passive accredited investors and learn about their investment locations.