@Wade Alderson  Morris invest threads you should read those on BP.. what they talk about is as far from reality as one can get... 40k homes in any major metro area that are true turn key ( which Morris homes certianly are not based on the comments of others on Bp with first hand knowledge )are in the hood....your best to stick to OKC plenty of low end homes there

The "general consensus" of midwestern investors does not apply to investors on the coasts or in big cities, and there are plenty of folks that build great wealth through buy and hold investing in major metro markets. 

there are plenty of ways to make money outside of real estate.

I have also used clear title and escrow on plenty of transactions

However, even in say Chicago, an expensive MFH  market, there are opportunities in plenty of areas that beat most any other residential investment you can make.

Not looking for a partner, we have plenty of reasonably priced money  available.

For the smoker make sure you give them plenty of advance warning of the change to allow you enough time to find a replacement tenant.Hopefully they will decide to leave because if they stay they will not stop smoking and you will likely end up having to evict.

Natalie,There is no question that there are plenty of properties (markets/neighborhoods) where merely converting shared living space into an additional bedroom - without adding any additional square footage, could net you absolutely zero more dollars on the sales price.

Yet every time someone tells me that it sells for much more than X, and the buyer makes plenty of money on the project.  

If it's ready to go and really worth $380K there are plenty of investors who would pick it up and put it right back on the market when the lease is up for a profit (me included).