The REIT taking on debt would reduce the dividends they would otherwise receive - but the reduction in dividends would ideally be temporary.This is still a very fresh idea but seems to offer many benefits to all members of the family, granted it could very likely become a full-time endeavor for myself.

Fresh paint and new carpet can go a long way for both potential renters and potential buyers of course.You could be right on the rent qualifications, I have no clue of your market.....but rather than assume there will be no tenants, try scrolling around in Zillow in your area for a bit *as a renter*, and checking out what's currently for rent for a 3/2, if anything.  

Fresh paint.2.

is it a pain, do they knit pick everything, or are you able to get licensed and have a time frame on fixing things (outside deck has peeling paint, cant paint in the winter) The house is clean, fresh paint in every room, new carpet new appliances. 

On the other hand, I’ve been seeing a lot of freshly-rehabbed houses sell quickly while dates ones sit awhile, so figure out what that might be worth to you. 

It's definitely going to be cheaper and faster than hiring a programmer to do the work for you but I always wonder about the quality and the freshness of any data that I receive from 3rd party sources.  

How fresh the data is probably depends on how active a market is.

With notations of starting a family, we feel this would be perfect opportunity to have a fresh being able to fix this house up into our dream home that will go beyond our needs and extend into what our future family will need.

Also painting- if it were a lower priced property i'd say the blue was OK but if I were paying $775k for a house I think I'd expect a fresh paint job in a more current color palette.

It's a bit overwhelming though; my list of tasks includes:Setting up billing for water, trash, electric, gas;Cleaning up the gutters and the yard;A fresh coat of paint and re-staining the hard wood floors;Sanding and painting the deck and railings;buying a new washer/dryer andFiguring out how to approach the tenant about a rent increase.Anyways, I know it will be a positive learning experience and hopefully be the beginning of a successful real estate investment career!