I get the feeling that current tenant leases will have a huge impact on any commercial loan and as a result, there are not a lot of good deals on properties that have solid tenants.

Direct mail marketing will produce your best results 

I have seen a few make a ton with one locations but those are rare and not the norm.The dream in your mind might not match up to the reality in real life of how it will go.

DIY can also work well, especially if you know people in the market you choose, have connections to reliable contractors etc - your network really makes or breaks this kind of investment because you have to manage all the moving pieces from afar, but it also gives you little more control and could potentially result in higher returns if you get the numbers right.

If you sell that stock and the result is a $100k capital gain, you would pay capital gain tax rates on that when you file your tax return. 

let us know how this works out, I’m really interested in the results!

Now it’s hard to find value adds that can match that.

However, the amount of work to fix them up may not match the current market rate. 

If you plugged holes, there could be some charge for primering and painting the damaged areas to match the rest of the rental walls. 

@Sean Beksinski - There are several different calculators and each have their own calculations that are done to give the resulting numbers.