My main purpose on BiggerPockets is to invest in my first property in the surrounding LA area with the help/resources from experienced investors and agents.

Need help from folks in Poland Maine.

Mainly because without deep level knowledge those unknown little mistakes add up to big amounts of lost money ( a compounding effect ).The same holds true when when you are an expert in something in that you catch almost all the little things that can really eat into your success with an investment.

I think the main issue was that they were rather out of state or had never been a lender before.  

We have invested in real estate mainly for ourselves and family.  

Schools, pools, yes they can and do often command a better price but IMO the main driving factor is bedrooms, baths, location, and overall quality of the unit.

I live downtown, so exposed duct is very common, and I figured the modern look would increase value (I am splitting the heat, so the main driver is cost savings).  

I think the main reason has been a lack of good river access points, there are only a couple in the county, and there's a very long stretch with no good place to get in or out of the river at all.So at the bottom or our hill there's been property for sale for a while, it used to be a landscaping business or some such but it's been vacant for years.

I focus mainly in the Ventura area but every once in a while I do get properties in the LA area.

I just looked at the kitchen again and the main problem is that the floor is sagging towards the middle at a rate of 1/2" every 10 ft.