I've always wondered what that black powder-like paste was every time roaches were present. 

Cash is what you need in that kind of melt down but I never had seen credit freeze like that before and hopefully never will.For me if I was thinking there was going to be another market correction of that magnitude I would have my powder dry and  have my commercial bank in tow.. my one major commercial bank stuck with me and kept our credit in the mid 7 figures but we were on 90 day reviews full financial every 90 days.. it was an odd time.  

The downstairs powder room should also go down to the studs.

To me those returns are roughly equal.I still have dry powder in case an opportunity arises.

Having $3MM of dry powder during a potential downturn is EXACTLY where I'd want to be, not invested in a property that is simply treading water, especially in a more expensive market.I am of course assuming a downturn, but there is no denying that even very active money (i.e. more time available to spend on adding value) is having a difficult time finding quality deals today. 

While I do think that there are a lot of reasons to remain cautious and underwrite as if there will be an adverse cycle during the life of any asset acquired today, I think the long bull run in income property has a lot of runway left in a lot of geographical areas.Your family is smart to save some dry powder to take advantage of opportunities, but I suspect that if they are waiting for a reset of pricing and an opportunity to buy at a discount to today's pricing they'll be waiting a while.A key difference between you and your dad is you have a lot more time to make your money back if you get into the market and subsequently get wiped out. 

The 'clearance' above the ceiling is full of 1960's era powdered insulation so good luck pulling wire.They are using my tile guy & he is tearing out what's left of his hair trying to get work done & he's been there 3 weeks.

We still have plenty of dry powder to put to work and like you are continuing to look for off-market deals, we have a number of LOIs out but as you know the demand for this asset type is growing, pricing is pretty rich and it's often hard to convince owners to sell.  

Mix up the powder according to the directions, put it into weedkiller pump sprayer, and sprayer the walls just until it starts running.

Boric acid - white dry powder - plus no water or any liquid.They will be gone in couple days