Having watched many prior co-workers get paid, cash their check at the casino, and promptly deposit it all into a slot machine I can tell you with pretty good certainty that casinos don't have a positive effect on disposable income and good use of the existing income in the area surrounding :)Are there solid local employers OTHER than the casino in a 15-minute drive? 

You could put in a range of numbers for purchase price and closing costs, renovation expenses, and expected returns and you could very quickly get a range of projected return on investments (although an excel spreadsheet could easily do this as well), but I'm sure as technology develops we will see even more sophistication in AI's ability to assist in deal analyzing.

Similar for bathrooms if virtually all are multi bathroom but you find a single bathroom, making it multi bathroom via new construction could be a value add.There are more sophisticated value adds such as add multiple adus via bonus density program.  

While sophistication of your equity partners (private money lenders) will vary between residential and commercial, the principle of raising private capital is the same.You need to develop your own system which allows a constant stream of PML even when you don't need the funds and/or don't have an active deal under contract.For example; I raise private capital by offering free educational workshops for people with self-directed IRAs.

The “buyer beware” philosophy is fine for commercial transactions, but taking “advantage” of home owners when they’re most vulnerable and lack market sophistication is something no right thinking person wants.  

So it requires more significant or sophisticated value adds.  

A sophisticated investor will also typically ask for the entire claimed track record and then run it through the wringer.

$20k for the sophisticated investor class, and then only two passive deals at $50k each .

It also requires gaining a level of sophistication and knowledge that not everyone has the time, inclination or ability to do.

When you are getting into raising big dollars from sophisticated investors they are going to want to see a track record and a well thought out and detailed business plan.