My parents have finished paying off the mortgage on their home and are wondering weather it would be more profitable to sell their home or rent it out. 

Unfortunately - my current lot for my primary is 1 acre and VERY sloped, and close to a water source (creek), so the county has not even allowed me to permit my downstairs finished basement without an extremely costly renovation to our septic (over $60,000, and that doesn't count demo'ing and replacing our driveway to get to the existing tank and leachfield), and even if I could permit it, it would essentially need to be a treehouse in the redwoods due to the slope (not a bad idea though, I would actually love a livable treehouse on this lot!

Compare to CA: I was just in a cabin construction yesterday doing a walk through video- priced at $717k, 3/2, that will come with 'luxury finishes'/fully furnished/turn-key when it's completed at the end of March. 

It might be best to consider wholesaling it and letting someone else finish the project, break even and move on.

I am finishing my last semester before moving to Chicago for a full-time job in September. 

This is usually a 12 month commitment that is "Interest Only" and after you finish the rehab and get a tenant, then you refinance into a DSCR loan.

Look at their finishes and what they offer guests, use that as your baseline, then improve upon it.

Quote from @Michael Daniel: Purchase price 70k currently renting for 900 ARV between 110 - 140k need about 25k in repairs in my opinion@Michael Daniel Do you think you can raise the rent after the finish the rehab?

Every house and every area are way different, so is the chopice of finishes.

It was a big project in terms of the amount of work it needed, I just ran out of time with my lender going through the garbage with the contractor, finding a new one, and finishing taking the longest. other than that I would've let it sit on the market to get closer to what I actually wanted for the property.