Inherited a house I want to rent out

[Mary Murphy]

This will be my first step into the investment realm. I have recently inherited an older home that I want to make some fixes to and rent out. There is no mortgage. The house is older and needs new roof, furnace, electrical, plumbing, flooring, windows and a basic landscape job. My problem is I don't know how to figure out what will be reasonable to invest in it to still make a profitable cash flow. In my area I can rent it for $600 to $700. I have capital to work with and don't need to get a loan to fix it. Any thoughts on this would really help.

Mary   

[Doug McLeod]

Find the nearest Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) and network to find out some reputable contractors who do rehabs for investors. Get 3 bids (you may want to start with one and get a list of work items, then get the other two to estimate the same work - don't share pricing!) and select the one with the best reputation with a reasonable price (not always the lowest).

Rather than spend your capital, consider to do a HELOC or cash-out refinance to fund your rehab and put any excess plus your own capital into additional properties if you want to do more of this.