Rehab Strategy for Rental Properties

[Tony Gunter]

I have a question for the buy - rehab- rent landlords in the forum. It seems that a lot of the best cash file situations for buy and hold strategies tend to fall into the lower strata of homes. Studying through the BP archives it seems to settle out into three levels. Sub section 8, section 8, and the top end maybe to renting a home that has an upper value of about $200K. Yes, I realize I am generalizing and not taking any local factors into account, but this is just some setup for my question. I tend to believe in putting the effort in on the front end so you don't have continually revisit something over and over, such as when tenants turn over. My idea, if you buy a property expressly for buy and hold as a rental, set it up right at the start to minimize hassle and expense later. Along the lines of the Section 8 bible ideas, which I plan to pick up soon. So, finally, has anyone used something more durable than dry wall as a wall material? I was thinking about a smooth hardie board and then taping the joints and then use a knock down finish to texturize the wall finish. Has anyone done this? Any thoughts? Thanks.