I need advice about what I should do with my first property

[Nicky Jones]

I have a small 3bd house in southern Illinois and I am not sure how what to do with it now that I have to move. I'm going to be moving about 12 hours away, so it won't be that easy for me to come back to the property on a regular basis.

It is functional, but needs a lot of work in terms of carpentry, drywall, doors, windows, and siding. I am having trouble finding a local realtor willing to list the property and it needs too much work to be listed as a rental at the moment. I'm not sure if I should just try to list it myself and sell it as is and take whatever I can get or make the repairs to get the house potentially sold or rented out for a better price. Most of the houses on my street are all rental properties, so there is that as well. A realtor told me to ask one of the rental companies to buy it, but I'm not sure if they would even be interested given due to the amount of work needed or if they would give me a fair price. I've been thinking about also selling it as a rent to own as well, but I'm not sure how feasible that is either.

I'm just looking for some general advice that might help me figure out the best way to handle this. I'm also looking for any advice regarding how to keep it secure and monitor it while I get the property sold or rented out.