Leveraged appreciation is a profound wealth builder and an important component in addition to cash flow.I'd take the "lower" yield on quality commercial multifamily, leveraged in a good market with reasonable expectations of appreciation any day. ...trouble is the bastards think I'm supposed to go cash flow negative to buy at their valuations at 25% down.  

I may not be interested today but if I plan on growing this is going to be a key component to that since I can only handle so much from down here (I may be reaching my limit).

As for the building components, look out for undersized floor joists and beams, along with no footings.

I could probably take apart these single-pane old windows and handle restoring every wooden component with new wood myself, replace the pulleys and rope, bring the windows back to what they were originally.

We assembled a team that could do critical components to make this work.. 

It can be through improving the property and doing a cash out refi, selling some equity off to a money partner afterwards, selling the property entirely, or literally selling off a piece of the property (if it's a large piece of land you could subdivide and sell off a piece to a developer).Or your Escape Plan can involve not having a need for an Escape Plan because you're not putting money into it in the first place by going into the deal with a money partner, getting seller financing or a seller 2nd.So moving forward you need to figure out how to increase the value of the 2 properties you own (increasing rents, adding another revenue component (can you put a garage or storage shed that you can charge for? 

Yeah, again, near to none talk about or focus on this but as someone of a bit of fame in getting "above market" sale prices, this is a major component of my "how".

You won’t get 25% on Day 1, but after a value add component it is very possible. 

Think about what  you need personally the most to be successful and compare it to the components of each offering. 

Plus, it's one of the key components to a successful STR!