Did cash for keys on the top floor unit, renovated the apartment, created additional 4th bedroom and raised rent from $900 to $1,475.

Demo floors yourself!

After the inherited tenants moved out we hired a contractor to paint, fix small items, and lay new floor.

This is in central Texas, close to Austin TX so it's likely to increase with the big companies moving in.Rental rate: 3.5K/month (Tenants would be middle-to-high income families with school-aged kids)The house is almost 20 yrs old so could use some paint touchups, flooring buffing, toilets, etc. but overall in decent condition.I'm thinking I'll fix these things as a rental so I can deduct it from the rental income and then plan to sell in 3 years to keep the cap gains exclusion as a primary residence.Rental rate doesn't pass the 1% rule of thumb. 

Purchase price: $36,000 Cash invested: $12,000 2 bed 1 bath ground floor condo.

Opened the floor plan, added a bathroom, remodeled the kitchen, strip and stain the original hard wood floors, painted, and upgraded fixtures.

They know you can put in a gas oven, they know you're rough and tough enough to refinish a floor, they've heard you swearing at the plumbing, and they understand you can kick their butts out if you have to.

If I have plans to remove or relocate a wall, I’ll identify which direction the floor joists are running to determine whether or not its load bearing.

@Joe Splitrock, she and her kids out over 150 holes in the walls and all of the doors and flooded a toilet and broke two crisper drawers in the fridge, and had a dog that peed on all of the floors, and lost all of the keys, and drew permanent marker on all of the walls and doors.

We put in new floors and bring the water heater to code and fix all the immediate issue with the get the renter ready.