J Scott - your investment in time, effort and energy may still be rewarded.

Vacation property deductions are reduced according to the percentage of time the unit is available for rental versus time allocated for personal use.

I'll still eat dinner even if my loan terms result in reduced cashflow.

Try to get the lender to reduce the payoff, including fees and back payments.

If you can reduce the amount of prep work they have to do so they can just come in and blow it out with a sprayer and then paint the trim separately (usually you want the trim a different color) that should reduce the price.

I would love to transform old apartment units into energy-efficient, higher-end units.

Then buy at the higher cap rates at greatly reduced prices.

And energy efficiency.

I have not found that to be an obstacle and it greatly reduces the chances of me getting myself in a pinch due to failure to disclose at the appropriate time.

Cash flow or reducing expense looking for funds to get another property.