I am leaning towards remodeling since it would be my primary residence initially and perhaps I won’t get much return on my investment but maybe just sell it to family/friends instead… well, time to find a contractor!

Background:The renovation journey has been comprehensive—refinished wood floors, new windows, central AC, and fully remodeled kitchens and bathrooms.

They can consult for you and help tell you what you are allowed to do, or they can complete the entire remodel for you as well.

Using $230k at 75% gives me a loan amount of $161k which should cover purchase and rehab costs for interior remodel.

North of town, west of I-5: 95219 Brookside (high end gated communities; Mello Roos school taxes - so high taxes; Lincoln School District; some peat dirt problems on streets; don't know about foundations); Spanos Park West (some gated; lots of huge houses; basically built for commuters just west of I-5; Lodi School District) North of town, east of I-5: 95209 Spanos Park East, Colonial Heights (most Lodi Unified Schools; though small pocket of Lincoln Unified) North of town, east of I-5: 95207 Parkwoods and Lincoln Village (Lincoln Unified Schools; was considered best family area due to Lincoln Schools, but lots of flat tops and built since the 1950s so electrical can be kind of minimal - 1 outlet in kitchen instead of enough to use multiple appliances); lot of remodeling in this area.

@Craig J Chelette it's hard but not impossible :) I just closed on a duplex in June for 300k (in Provo) , put 10% down with no PMI.mortgage, taxes and insurance $16073% vacancy (vacancy is almost nonexistent in Provo but I wanted to be conservative) $695% repairs (bought the home with everything remodeled) $1158% cap ex $184I did not include PM because I will be managing it myself BUT every property from here on out that I analyze will include 9% PM.$50 other expenses (google fiber)gross monthly rent $2300 (1400 up and 900 down)cash flow $274.39 with a CoC return of 9.27%My realtor found it on KSL - it wasn't even listed on the MLS.  

Its to the point they just call my plumber to replace faucets and leaky toilets (we have really bad hard water here in NJ). 

Acquired on the market, this 4-unit rental needed a full remodel, creating a perfect BRRRR opportunity.

This is the simplest method, but it also means your tenants are more likely to abuse the utilities by leaving windows open with the heat or A/C running, leaving lights on, ignoring the toilet that constantly flushes on its own, etc.3.

Once upon move out, we had tenants claim that the plumber that had only months before replaced the wax ring and re-set the toilet left it all loose and wobbly with a broken seat and they refused to take responsibility for it's condition.