So I'm willing to factor that in, and still have room for good returns. 

My wife and I have been looking to buy a property for nearly 2-3 years but life always seems to come first (second daughter, etc.) and financial freedom...well...second...We are making it a goal to close on our first investment property before the EOY but I'm thinking more like closing before the start of Q3...put some more realistic pressure on myself.I've been WFH full time (risk management) since the pandemic and have taken on multiple "COVID" Projects...for example I killed off and "renovated" my entire front lawn into a golf course lawn (0.5 inches height of cut)...lots of factors come along with making that happen but a key to my success was...you guessed it...a lawn forum.I love meeting new people and making connections. 

There could be other factors too.

Factor in the closing costs, realtor's fees and moving. 

And even if there is a 5% decrease (or worse), that still wouldn't phase me, because price appreciation isn't a big factor in my strategy -- cash flow is.

The response now is if you want to wait, tell them you need to wait a year or two until you've got the fund to do it properly.If you do renovate it, afterwards when they renew their lease, you can increase the rent a bit to factor in it now has 2 bathrooms.

They take calculated risk with loans and factor in cash reserves for the rainy days.

More often then not, location is the primary principle that will factor into rent.

However, deciding between building v/s rehabbing, depend on many factors but just comes down to what’s most suitable for you in achieving your future business goals.

The "you must update to new codes" issue would mostly be the electrical so since that is something you are already doing, most of your risk factor is taken away.