In my opinion, the cost savings you get when buying an all in one laundry center just doesn't out weight all the benefits of spending a little more and getting better machines.  

Plus, then you can either sell it with very little land if you want to keep space and options, or with most of the land if you want to avoid the upkeep of the land. what do you think you could sell the house for and how much does it ent for?

If an owner occupant complains, it carries a lot of weight and that weight does not come down in your favor.Overall, I don't recommend my clients choose condos over SFHs due to the ROI. 

Also if you trust the guy doing it, he will constantly up keep the property.  

-  Are you using averages, weighted averages or regression to the mean?

Wow, I knew KC was pretty central geographically, but had no idea at how close it also is to the weighted center based on population.

And if you've managed the upkeep of your house just fine over the years, but the taxes have tripled, well, nuff said.I'm more thinking about the revitalization of all the boarded-up scary places in the neighborhood, where nobody lives and lower the overall neighborhood vibe.What I'm specifically wondering is if it's possible to buy a vacant house in Pittsburgh or Mechanicsville, restore it to its original attractive and decent livable-though-perhaps-small condition, and sell it under some sort of neighborhood program to a person who maybe rents there now, or who used to live there, or would like to live there who's not a middle-class white yuppie (and I totally include myself in this category), and make a small profit ($10,000 maybe, for a 2-4 month flip).And a more philosophical question -- is it possible to revitalize a neighborhood without changing it (from the way it was before decline)?

@Rob Anderson  Oh the weight one must carry to be just so right...and sarcastically insulting to a city, and resident investor that just might be successful.  

The same holds true for real estate investors as well.The Key here is that if you are looking at a very long holding period (i.e. willing these properties to your heirs) then the cash flow is going to carry more investor weight.

I would tell them that I care about the condition of the property and neighborhood and if they have any issues with tenants or upkeep of the property, to call me.