You can put lipstick on a pig, and it still oinks.

We already own a duplex that we bought in LA in 2014, it was a flip that the seller had bought at an auction and done a lipstick job with, we put in an extra $30k to get it rent ready, redo plumbing and electrical, and have been managing it ourselves since.

Much more likely somebody put some lipstick on a pig. 

I mean lipstick on a pig.  

Hes selling it for $50K and the tenants are all brand new due to his "lipstick" he just put on the property.

The supposed "tax benefits" are often used to slap some lipstick on a loser rental.The reality is that good rental properties produce taxable income, even after deprecation.The common claim is that the passive losses from a loser rental can be used to offset other income.

All you did is put lipstick on a pig.

Most put lipstick on it and claim (newly renovated) and then sell off a dog of a property to an out of town investor.

I think it’s best to keep putting lipstick on older places because construction on them sucks.

Anything you do superficially is just lipsticking a pig, and I can't tell you what works and is worth doing in your market.