Am I being selfish, short sighted, or naive to expect any ownership/equity from a deal that I am not putting any money into myself? 

You know, those little chips of old paint, screws, small pieces of wood, plastic - whatnots.  

The attractions like Sight & Sounds and Amish country are for one day excursions. 3.

I was looking at some property in the Arlington Woods area but it seems by your response and others in other threads saying to stay above 38th that this would be a bad area to be in. 

Short-sighted decision.We need the numbers break down as @Luther Wilson III said -- without that we don't know what the issue is.

I never had an significant incident (again knock on wood) at that property (which had a visible security system,  other visible security features, etc) all the newer townhouses in the area are constantly seeing package thefts and car prowls.   

Palmer Woods area? 

it is currently a 2/1 that I am going to make into a 3/2 by taking out a large wood burning fireplace, shrinking the closets and moving the laundry into the garage. 

@Thomas Wood  Can you share more about the location and the condition of the house? 

Most anyone can pick a paint color and some wood floors...I’m talking about someone who can look at an existing floor plan and completely reconfigure the space while keeping codes, traffic flow, space usage, etc in mind.