You can also look at macro-economic trends like population growth, construction activity, rent appreciation, vacancy rate, price trends in this and adjacent neighborhoods and if they are more or less expensive, etc.

I'm very studious/detail-obsessed so I keep a very close eye on design trends myself. 

This is a lot of work and money compared with tiling a more modern home with an existing plywood/OSB subfloor.Typically to start with in this homes, you also have to pull out vinyl flooring and the 3/4 in. wood plank flooring beneath it, which is typically covered in multiple layers of asbestos-laded cutback adhesive.If the plank subfloor is in seriously bad shape (which we can only know after we get down to that level) we take off the planks, install 2x8 sistering and blocking on the joists, and put in a 3/4 in. tongue-and-groove OSB subfloor, followed by a waterproofed cement board and thinset tile installation.This costs a lot of money even if you do it yourself with your own crew, which is what we do and is the only reason who do as much tile as we do.So, as otherwise stated in this thread, I would also not recommend planning to tile large areas of such homes in this area to any passive investor, and most especially NOT any out-of-state passive investor.

If they still have their jobs, have assets, and the properties in good shape, then the bank's not going to just let them walk away.

If the house is in good shape already, I'd most likely go for it if I can get 1200 a month.

The only reason I would change the roof color is because the roof is in bad shape.

Don't worry about getting sued with single family homes, buy a decent home in good shape, keep it in good shape, follow the landlord laws, be consistent and fair and get insurance, lots of insurance.

Kelly, The paint is in decent shape, so I do not plan to pain that unit this year.

But it's really nice when it happens.It's also prudent to be prepared in case the upward trends that are experienced are not actually an upward trend, but are more like a soap bubble, poised to burst when it reaches maximum expansion.By advising @Mike D. to stick with the number he "should be" using, you're asking him to ignore reality and stick to theory and that simply isn't practical.I like Mike's model because it builds in some conservatism.  

The place was in better shape  then most of my units where tenants had dogs and cats as pets.