By selling and moving your equity into a different market or area you can create more value for yourself again with your cash.You need to take your comparable sales and then deduct your selling costs minus loan payoff and 1031 costs to see what kind of cash you would have to put into one or more other properties.

Go talk to an REI guy and he will tell you how well they do things compared to the big guys.

I'd say rents are good compared to purchase prices here in Houston, although I do not have direct experience in other markets.

My original intent was a flip but as the work was being done (I did a lot myself but did hire out the roof and windows as it was cheaper compared to my time value) I had an offer to rent at $70/m more than I originally estimated.

I have a real estate background and created massive spreadsheets with comparable sales, assessed value, market trend analysis, etc. to valuate a potential real estate property.

When you find a prospective property, you will want to go over the profit and loss statement with a fine tooth comb and compare it with typical investment property figures.

Or option 2, still do the condition report and explain your opinion of rental rates compared to her current rent.

You are really performing a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis), which is an analysis done to determine the value of a property...that is what I would reference it as to the seller.

The credit is $2,000 for a dwelling unit that is certified to have an annual level of heating and cooling energy consumption at least 50% below the annual level of heating and cooling energy consumption of a comparable dwelling unit and has building envelope component improvements that account for at least 1/5 of the 50% reduction in energy consumption.

Either one will work, as long as they're good at what they do, and comparable in price.