I did get a little boost on that property from the Japanese buying spree in Hawaii in the 80's and the lack of inflation is slowing my snowball growth on appreciation. 

Moral of the story is don't replace the cabinets.

@Landon Bleau and @William Morales thank you both for the info!

You need to do work (and take on the risk) to boost your returns.

Monthly rentals have worked well for us to boost cashflow. 

(Make sure you run a criminal background on the handyman) This will obviously all boost cash flow, significantly.

As a Realtor myself, I can understand your dislike for wholesalers because a lot of them don’t operate inside the boundaries of morale.

In other words, after 10 years I have $103,687.09 in positive wealth, all other things in my life being equal.Equity (wealth) I own in home - $420,007.09Home’s value after 10 years from Natural Appreciation ($706,757.76) - original loan amount ($334,160) + Principle Pay-Down ($47,409.33)Mortgage costs paid - $316,320.So without doing really anything in either scenario - no crazy financial engineering or value boosting home remodeling etc… - what is the best financial decision?

This has helped boost cap rates closer to 10 as rents have followed the appreciated property purchase prices.Feel free to contact me to discuss things like what you are targeting, add value vs turn key, mgmt companies, different areas, etc.take care!

Many agents will preach buying properties that come with existing furniture, or other ways of minimizing "costs" unrelated to the property down payment itself ... while this may boost the agent's commissions/ allow you to buy a higher priced property, in many cases this advice is wildly misguided.Instead, the right way to think about the real estate purchase is that it is the foundation upon which you get to make even higher ROI investments into the hospitality business inside ... it's just the starting point.You wouldn't start a restaurant and seek to maximize the amount you spend on rent, skimping on decor and ingredient quality.