Burning question to all you house flippers

[Serge S.]

I'm struggling a bit on what was seemingly a home run deal. Was hoping for some advice from you seasoned pros. I stumbled upon and quickly locked up a home that is 3 hours from the territory I typically work. Just got a chance to see the home for the first time and although my purchase price to comps is great I need to make a number of decisions on my exit. Here are the details:

Purchase price $41k

Neighborhood sold, pending and active comps $125-$179k

So far so good. The problem is that the house was owned by a do it yourself type with two terrible condition add ons, funky tile throughout and and a number of cosmetic issues.

My question is whether my best exit would be to flip it as is where I estimate I could list and get around $70k as is.

Or "wholetail" to make the home functioning and liveable by keeping the tile and bathrooms while finishing the add ons, fixing the roof, painting the cabinets, exterior and interior paint, landscaping and HVAC. This would make the home liveable, maybe FHA financeable and would be consistent with many active comps that look liveable but not upgraded with list prices in the low $100s. I estimate a sale in the low $100s if lucky and the rehab would be int he $12-15k range. The concern here is that I don't do enough to sell it fast and a potential deal would fall apart under the lending microscope.

Final strategy is a gut keeping just the tile throughout the home although I don't really like the tile. This would include refacing the cabinets, granite countertops, new windows, finishing the add ons, baseboards, gutted bathrooms, etc. Cost would be in the $30-$37k range but the comp would be mid to high 100s most likly $150-170k. I've met with and received bids from local contractors for this and don't have a comfortable feeling with any of them to pull it off appropriately. Rehabs are hard enough when I'm local let alone 3 hours away and only able to show up once every other week. This is the part that scares me most. That and keeping the tile while spending so much on everything else.

The market in this city is hot and there is a shortage of dressed up housing. This is a cash deal and I have no holding costs or cash constraints, just constrained on time and headaches.

Finally I could always hold and rent if all else fails as my cost basis would still be low and the home fixed up would rent for around $1200. I'm not a remote landlord and don't see many (any) successful remote landlords or landlords using PM, at least successful by the standards I set.

So ... interested in your thoughts on best strategy, thoughts on the tile, etc. Pics are attached. Please help.