When you cast your gaze upon Saint John from away, it may look like a field of "deals" just waiting for a little TLC, but purchase a property in the wrong neighbourhood and it won't matter how much you polish it, the tenant pool will be poor and the resale value non-existant.Indian Town, and other parts of the North End, would be such an area.  

To restore the shine you just polish down to "clean" material again.

We have managed multi's before but I would avoid them like the plague. tenant noise issues, bug issues that carry unit to unit, smoking and the list goes on and on.if you have the stomach to deal with that and live around it more power to you but small multi's I would never consider buying especially in this market. in my opinion, they are the very first to get rent corrected in a down market because they are not as desirable in my experience as a large polished multi until complex or sfh.

Anything from older remodeled bungalow or colonial style housing on the outskirts as well as polished lofts/studios above businesses in the heart of downtown.

Your search skills need polishing :)http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/22/topics/77518-how-to-break-into-private-lending

Sure, you may even occasionally find something you can polish into a profit. 

Here is how the last one broke down - 3 slabs @ ~$125 per slab, $650 installatoin and materials (glue, polish, plywood, etc.).

He isn't a polished perfect salesman trying to get you to buy his product.

Do you have a lot of input on her brand of nail polish (if she uses that) (???)

I know because I polished up a few of the diamonds and still own them.