If you are talking many years, then that's easy - take your personal items and put them in storage (or bring them with you), and accept that the rest of the house is just walls and floors and as long as the tenant doesn't burn the house down or cut down all your landscaping, everything else was going to wear out anyway whether you or a tenant was there, and when you put your personal effects back in and repaint, it's just like home again.

Tim VandenToorn It's a large electronic cigarette manufacturing company and a retail store chain.

If there is one, does the HOA cover exterior maintenance and landscaping?.

I had been thinking about moving into it for 18 months (avoiding capital gains) - and selling my other home, anyway - while I finished up landscaping and such.The market where I live is schizophrenic (prices are all over the map) - and I'm not impressed with the small pool of realtors that work in up here (northern (like two minutes from Canada) New York) .

I've been involved in several areas of residential contracting, and have owned businesses such as remodeling, paint contracting, and landscaping.

I then subtract an assumed $20K for repairs (paint, carpet, seller's lies about repair costs, landscaping, etc.).  

So this property needs some work (cosmetic, paint, updated fixtures, landscape, hip styling) and I can get a loan for it and pay for the rehab expenses out of pocket.

I ran some comps and the price is in the ballpark The house needs some TLC (paint, landscaping, carpet) there are no major problems that I can see. 

, interior paint, appliances, landscape, chimney sweep and roof, with some brick work.

I paid cash from my savings and have budgeted about $25,000 for repairs (new kitchen and bathrooms, new Hvac, and paint and landscaping).