To rehab or not to rehab...

[Chris Jackson]

Well - my first dose of reality. My first dose of fear.  And excitement.  But mostly fear.

To rehab or not to rehab.  That is the question.

$60K gets me into a duplex.  Half is fixed up and rented (has been for 2 years), half is this.  A bombshell.  Missing plaster, floors and walls; but full of dead animals, leaks and holes.

So help me out in conquering my fear and putting it back into a mathematical equation. Math isn't scary - it either makes sense or it doesn't.  

Owner is asking $70K I might be able to get that down to $60K.  A 30-yr fixed loan at $75K (60 + 15 for commission, closing...) is $390/mo.  The monthly rent is $600.  I do not want to do the work myself; I'd rather get somebody who knows what they're doing to fix it up. I'm thinking that I might break even month-to-month from the rented side - but is it going to cash-flow so that I can put reserves aside for doing work?  I don't have much money to put into the property myself so I'd have to get another loan to do that and then I'd be cash-flow-negative.

What would YOU do?  Walk away from the deal or get creative?