One house we had someone come in and do a faux paint job, looked pretty impressive, kept being asked where we got the wallpaper.

Some countries the investors pay 10 to 12% interest to have loans there and they are amazed the interest rates and pricing they can get here on commercial assets.I would say buying houses over here can be a challenge because yes you can spread assets out but that can be a bad thing as well.10 sets of roofs, a/c's, different vintage build of houses, varying PM companies to control as they likely to do not manage different areas etc.

He runs his own retail jewelry/gold business, 6 children, even more commercial & residential units, and doesn’t have any time!

Rehabbing a property is relatively the same cost with materials varying slightly and labor depending on the state the property is in and vintage and design of the building etc.Utility makes or breaks the investment for me.

We're planning on yellow letters (handwritten for now; likely transitioning to printing our own printed faux-handwritten letters in the future), and are trying to figure out what segment to market to and where to get our list.  

There's a difference between a "vintage" house like an old Victorian, and just an old outdated house. 

Horrible siding and roofs and windows The best of the crappy ones are made of 1 x 3s, so you are starting with virtually nothing, other than I-beams, a hitch and a DMV trailer designation sticker.I worked on a resort campground project where we experimented with vintage airstreams.  

I have a product based online business in jewelry & eyewear that i built up in the last 7 years which provide me with a stable income.

That year of building is probably running galvanized pipe from the water meter at the street sidewalk to the building.Those usually rust internally and start leaking underground.To replace that line with copper can be very expensive especially if the line runs under the parking lot.You would need to cut up the road,take out the line,put the new copper line in,and then fix the road.This can cost tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand depending on length of the run to fix.I would be concerned with a building of that age with hidden problems discovered once the current tenants leave doing TI.Could have asbestos,roof problems,sewer problems with the cast iron system,lead paint,etc.With retail buildings usually have a life cycle of 30 years so they are usually torn down and regenerated instead of a 50's vintage still standing.Regardless if it is a great location and not a dying part of the old town where the growth has moved then eventually a developer would be interested in partnering with you and building new or buying from you outright.You have to really look at these types of deals from all angles and work with someone looking out for your success.Not someone wanting to just "sell you something".I view instead of selling people on things to get one off commissions to instead help them make long term sound purchases.If one is successful then it stands to reason a relationship will be formed and they will buy more off of that success.If a broker/agent sticks someone in a bad deal then later business from them and referrals will be non-existent.Some of these brokers only representing corporations as sellers do not care about the buyers or if they buy right.This might could be a good deal for you.Just think of the multiple exits as much as you do about the purchase.

(By the way, the faux-wood floor tile in that picture runs about $4-5 a sqft.