The highest & best use of your time IMHO is to focus on the following activities:1) Talk to qualified sellers2) Make offers3) Close Deals4) Sharpen your deal making skills5) Improve marketing to talk to more qualified sellers.

If you can weed through some of the crazy conspiracy theories, it's a another great show for both real estate and self improvement.

Dining room is pretty open to the living room beyond, through some nice cased built-in bookshelves...so opening the kitchen up also would mean that the whole house except for the bedrooms & hallway would be sort of one connected space.I am trying to rehab the house in the spirit of its 1920s design, and to make major changes only when they produce a real, indisputable improvement.     

I usually have to pull my husband away from home improvement projects but doing this project and our other, has made us both realize the value in having other contractors do the work.Lesson 6.

So, any improvements I made to the property would go to benefit Citimortgage.

For my money I could see having one of the several successful investors on BP who offer coaching on their specialties help, once you are already involved, to improve what you do.

Use it as a preliminary step to help you weed out properties.As the housing market improves we'll find fewer and fewer areas that can meet the "2% rule" but that doesn't mean there isn't money to be made in rentals

Personally if the area is staying the same or improving and you have good cash flow.

You then sell that contract for a fee or do a double close, typically to an investor who is looking to improve the property and either rent it out or resell for a profit. 

These properties can not be improved - the market has said no.