You want to look for a C+ property that sits on the border of a B+ area.

Market timing is akin to gambling IMO.Make good fundamental choices and over the long term you will turn out to be right more than you are wrong.

I know I could theoretically force appreciation through basic value-add improvements, but I'm just scared that theirs a ceiling on those neighborhoods and if I take the gamble with 15k in rehab, that it will never appraise at 100k.

I am in Northern VA and flipping in a city and county that border DC.

That is why I found the Indiana side of the border to be a much more conducive place for investing.  

They are almost non-existent on the Virginia side of the border.

North is great, that is in Mishawaka is border.

I try not to gamble with my investment money or my clients investments and can usually identify a good deal in a very short period of time.

It's a 50 cent gamble so it's worth trying.

At least the last half decade has proven this to play out.. compared to cash flow were hey we are going to do this and gambling that rents go up and that cap rates stay low and credit will be where it is today and then in 5 to 7 years if everything aligns we exit.the pros on those of course is tax treatment and income as you hold and pretty much every syndicator out there will take a 100k investment.