Of course, I do not have a crystal ball, tea leaves, or a time machine but after years of declining home prices there are a lot of factors supporting the idea that we are at the bottom and should start inclining.

@Josh Ball Ohhh hmmm that's a good idea! 

.$550,000 property: Tenant stays 2 years; between tenant renovation cost is $3,000; carrying cost is $3,000/Mo, it takes 3 months to renovate and get a tenant in the property (due to the much smaller pool of potential tenants at the required income level).

This may or may not be based on the value of an appraiser's opinion, plus many other factors such as how good the listing agent is at attracting a qualified pool of buyers. 

So you can either get the same or better return (risk adjusted) investing in a mortgage fund, pool or REIT, or try to find that “needle in a haystack” outlier.Paying full loan balance for a note is not where the real ROI is; it’s purchasing a note at significant discount to remaining loan balance and “working” the note.  

@Ruben LopezI think since both units are 2/2s, which usually rent more easily and appeal to a larger tenant pool and because the second duplex is less expensive and already has in place income, for me it probably pencils out better.

KIDS WANT TO SWIM, so community pools are a big hit with families. 

Work harder to MAKE a deal, longer negotiations, negotiating 5 deals at once instead of 2; making offers on 50 properties  even if they’re “low ball”, increasing marketing budget significantly to drive deal flow, getting more “creative”. 3.

We took it off market, poured some money into it, fixed up the pool, the landscaping, the kitchen, paint and a few other nice pieces. 

I would like to work in this area especially for small, gated area with amenities like dog park, pool, food, etc