Since you plan to live there, fix the home a little bit (cosmetic repairs - landscaping, paint, etc), and you could get a higher rent as you transition out.

Land improvements (15 year) include driveways, sidewalks, fencing, and landscaping.

Now that is awsome, I filled out an application and am going to get some pricing on what it will take to paint a couple of my houses up as bill boards for my landscaping business Thanks for shareing that link out side the box thinking at its finest

But condos you will never have to pay out of your pocket to:-replace the roof-paint the exterior-keep up the landscaping....units you will have to pay for all this.Also, water/garbage bill is included in the hoa with condos where you have to pay that with units.

Windows – Needs all new windows (I wasn’t quite sure how to count them, since some are side by side, some are smaller, and some are 3 panel…I counted 25 not including the middle portion of the 3 large pane windows) $6000Foundation – Looked okayLandscaping – Remove trees and shrubs, tear down and remove shed, bring in landscaping rocks, power-wash sidewalks and driveway, remove fence in front and back, put new fence in back, new mailbox, plant new shrubs/flowers for curb appeal. ($3000)Exterior – New exterior and screen doors ($1000) Change exterior light fixtures, new shutters ($400)Interior paint/carpentry – Remove all wood paneling and add/replace sheetrock where necessary.

Hi,If any folks here have used a good, honest and reasonably priced handyman (for smaller jobs like faucet leaks, paint, carpet, landscaping work, etc) and were satisfied with the work done, I would really appreciate the name and contact info.

So if I had to do this deal (not saying I would at that price for that location) I would convert to a rooming house with top notch landscaping out front (looks like it’s next to commercial so as long as you weren’t too crazy with it you would be ok) and let it cash flow for a few years hoping that the neighboring areas continue their uptrend.

My second love is landscaping and working up land for orchards and gardens and green space.

Like I said the property is ready to move into and it just needs sweat equity and some updating.Here's an example.The property I bought for $30,000 needed some updating like new painting on the side of the house, light fixtures, landscaping and a few other minor problems.

I hired several persons/contractors to do the painting, landscaping, cleaning and maintainance, but I don't have their SSN or TIN, so I did not send them form 1099MISC, do I still can deduct all those costs from the rental incomes on my tax return this year?