Inherited, Out of State property. Crunching numbers for renting

[Ashley Wolfe]

Hello all,

I need to know how to go about analyzing an inherited townhome to see if it would be a good rental.  

The quick story is my husband's mother passed away in late May and we inherited her townhome.  She owes about $70K on it and it hasn't sold after being on the market since June.  She took good care of the house so, to our limited knowledge (because we are in TX and the property is in PA) there is nothing glaringly wrong with the home.

We need to know the steps or components of analyzing this property to see if it would cash flow after all expenses are paid, including property management since we are out of state.  Is there a formula to follow for creating the monthly rent?  

Its bittersweet thinking this may be our first deal, but I also want to know that we won't be hopping off a sinking ship.  If you have any words of wisdom or spreadsheets that you use to analyze deals to become rentals, I'd love to know how to do this the smart way.

Thanks in advance.

Ashley Wolfe

[Corey Melkonian]

I'd lower the price to sell and purchase something closer. You don't want to be a property owner by default.