As we were going through this process, we assumed that we would not be doing a complete re-paint of our home since in the original settlement it only covered affected areas, which is less than 1/3 of the home and our house was painted less than 3.5 years ago with approved colors (we still have the official “approval” from the HOA/Architecture Review Committee).

Then paint the stairs (usually 2 coats) with a Hershey's Milk Chocolate color brown (I had to get the local flavor in there - pun intended).

Though, I'm considering giving this deal to an investor if I can get the price down low enough.The place is a complete mess, the garage is used as a bedroom, paint colors are neon colors, countertop tiles are black, everything is outdated by @ least 10-15 yrs, but no structural damages.

.@ Jason Scott - I have not tried it as I do not typically ever make offers on HUD properties, however, I am sure there is a way to scan in a blue ink version of your signatures/initials and then attach them in color to your PDF doc. - Worth a try I guess.

The house turned out very nice and the staging compliments your selection of colors well.I noticed a few things which might not be converting those lookers to offerors...

For a rental, the property would need some updates, I figured no more than 5k (clean the carpet if doesn't need replacing, paint throughout the house, paint the kitchen cabinets (hideous diarrhea-green color).

You might find a good qualified prospect that just can't get past the color.

Also, paint the walls a darker neutral color, it will not show as much wear and tear and will be easy to touch up when the tenants move out.

Foreclosures are also very high in these areas, so your comps get strongly colored, if not defined, by REO sales, so it's hard to get an appraisal that will support your targeted exit price.

It's not all wine a roses afterwards.