Cross-Roads... Which side?

[Mike Heth]

Hello BP!  I've been on hiatus for a while after my divorce.  It's great to be back.

Long story short: we house hacked a duplex while together and I kept the place.  During the split, I moved into an apartment while renovating the vacant side.  Now my lease is up and the renovations complete. 

The rented side is paying below market rents and needs renovating--cosmetic stuff, but still a few grand.  Now that I'm ready to move back, do I move in the vacant, rent-ready side, and/or increase the current tenants' rent; taking a risk they move out.  Their lease is up in July. 

I feel like I have 3 options:

-Move into the currently vacant side and keep their rent the same or increase slightly (still below market rent). This ensures I don't have turnover at the moment.

-Raise rent to market ($150/mo difference) and see if they move out.  If so, move into their side and rent the currently vacant side at market rent. Renovate their side while living there.  This creates immediate turnover and more renovation costs upfront.

-Raise rent maybe $100 and do slight renovations while they are there.  This "justifies" the rent increase and makes them feel like they are getting something out of it.  Only issue is they have 4 kids and I don't want them to take a toll on the new cosmetics when they're happy enough with what's there now.

Opinions are welcome from all!

Thanks guys,

Mike