Increased rents on first floor and moved into top floor.

Are you planning to buy in LA, or in some other market?

I see perhaps a new kitchen, paint and maybe a little flooring. 

Hoping I can get around $1200 renting to traveling nurses and professionals According to my research on FurnishedFinder, this is reasonable, and I'm planning to list June 1.

Depending on you strategy and plan I would tell you to potentially look into different areas of College Station.

We plan to rent out the basement on a medium-term basis - we are going to install a full kitchen down there, put a lockable door between upstairs and downstairs, fence off a private section of the yard, and there is already laundry down there, so it will essentially be an up-down duplex with a separate walkout basement entrance.

Plan your route to maximize coverage.

Does this seem like a great time to get involved in real estate projects with a planned 75% leverage?

We added value by repainting interior, new floors, new roof, resurfaced the pool, added a fence for privacy, upgraded the landscaping, sealed and painted the exterior, added central A/C with new unit, upgraded the irrigation system, added gutters, added security cameras, added hurricane proof front and rear doors.

@Sarah Kensinger Good idea on narrowing down my ideal guest/customer like the book The Pumpkin Plan talks about.