I'm just restoring it, not trying to upgrade it, because comps in the area are wild.  

Would love to restore and flip older homes to lower income families, that are looking to start out fresh or make a fresh start.

I had sold a motorcycle I had built with my father and a old car I was restoring, my dad was in the auto body industry so the itch to work on cars and motorcycles rubbed off on me.

We both work four ten hour days and typically devote one full day to rest or pure fun and the other two free days to rentals.

Carolina Restorations came out and cleaned it up for us (Great company by the way).

I still believe that real estate is the best investment and am trying to restore my holdings.

This is what HUD says in answer to some questions you may have  but I am not sure if it is the latest and greatest.http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/disabilities/reasonable_modifications_mar08.pdfIn general the tenants  are not required to restore exterior modifications back to the original state.

I am a frugal do it all that buys material and stuff from the Habitat re-store and saves it!

Anything in real estate so much depends on the location, the type assets, surrounding amenities and what you expect it to do for you.I use Lockstate remote WiFi locks because they are currently the best and solve all the problems a modern smart-lock needs to accomplish: getting the right people through the door at the right times without me having to be there.I run and experiment with various Airbnb solutions:Manage villas for clients in TuscanyHost a turn of the century restored 6 room apartment in a quaint German city near the beach.Manage varying types of other apartments, condos, and houses in various locations in the USA and Europe.Keep in mind when dreaming of the "big bucks", it takes time to:Set up and maintain your Airbnb and various other accounts.Set up each new listing.Communicate with nice and not so nice guests.Factor in vacancies and damages.Outsource and manage cleaning and fixing team.Your dwelling needs to make at least the same income compared to the long-term rental if you're only looking to grow equity.

Fire restoration companies use them to get the fire smell out of rehabbed units.