Normal stuff for us.Budget: $90,000 - do higher end modern finishes throughoutTake about 4 months to completeWhat went wrong?

Unfortunately it is difficult to benchmark against the area or other landlords.

People want spacious and modern kitchens and baths - at the very least 'seemingly' new - and you don't have to spend a lot to improve outdated fixtures. 

I want to invest in a smaller property on one of the new condos with all the brand new and modern amenities thinking in the long run it's going to hold its value, she wants to invest in something roomy (2 bedrooms) but old, we have a couple of nice old condos (1961-1982) with big apartments facing the bay.

HVAC is usually updated, but not always. 50s homes will have a furnace closet that will accept modern HVAC systems, 20s homes won't unless updated.Location, location, location, demand in that area drives marketability.

What this means is that the exterior and interiors are redone such that they have certain aspects that are modern, i.e. the tile, new wood floors, new cabinets, etc.

You can very obviously tell that is has been modernized and well taken care of recently, but that physical age makes me VERY nervous.

I've toyed with the idea of a top of line one that even does temp control, but I could never justify the price and I didn't like the looks of them.I talked with an amazing custom furniture builder (modern furniture) that I know.  

Even with a hard state like California there can be benchmarks setup in place to create the ability to walk away from a deal if there will be too many walls regarding tenants. 

Our criteria for what's a good return is a moving target & depends on multiple financial benchmarks (Example:  Stock Market) outside of real estate.