An investor operator makes investing more of an identity than a passive investor.  

For identical asset A, an investor would always pay a cap rate of X versus a cap rate of <X.  

It sounds identical to these houses, so I think your appraiser is correct..  

There are sooo many factors that make one strategy more efficient than others.Plans for the home (minor touches, "to the studs", make it glamorous), condition of the home, its price in comparison to comps in the area, credit score, personal goals and fears (big factor), plans for children such as college, terms of the sale, trust in your inspector and your team, your workload, your current medical health, your stress tolerance, tax benefits, your family's stress tolerance, area's growth, your trust in the seller's disclosure, offers on the table, current interest rates...you get the idea.2) One of the most beautiful formulas (besides Euler's Identity) is:Interest = P (Principal) x R( Annual Rate %) x N (Time Period).

It can pay off tremendously versus the slow and steady cashflow.My 1st property bought in 97 is now worth as a teardown 56 times my 25% down payment , based on an identical lot sold across the street.

When the identical property next door shows 24k a year in gross rents, but yours shows 75k in gross rents, I just added a ton of equity to your property without lifting a hammer.  

I’m closing on a duplex in a couple weeks that is an identical duplex to the one I bought last December.

It is literally identical to investing that money into a 5% fixed-return investment.

Comps across the street recently sold for 425k and 399k, identical units.

Every house i do looks identical using the same materials.