Ensure that market rent for your area is what you will need to charge to turn a profit, find a good tenant (BP got us a discount for Transunion Smart Move, an excellent background check), use a solid lease (see Mark Warda's books on Landlording in Florida), and then treat them right by responding to issues promptly but otherwise leaving them to quiet enjoyment of the home.

I treated the subfloor with Kilz before installation.

I know they come with pretty good references, and this is Texas, so if they are deadbeats, you can quickly evict them, but going forward, treat the renting of your home as a business and qualify, qualify, qualify everyone that may want to live there.

And to become truly successful, you'll need to build systems and treat this as a business.Now, I will say that I can see the value in paying for a coach, mentor or at the least, partnering with an experienced rehabber to reduce the learning curve.

It's similar to being a normal landlord, but the person who is hoping to buy that house will probably treat it better and frequently is responsible for all maintenance so it can be a lot less work for you.

Hope the abode is treating you and your family well.Short sales purchases are actually notorious for being an absolute time-suck.  

Only a fool tries to paint with a brush so wide that they feel the need to treat all 3 the same.

After the way previous home owners have been treated - they are now or have already lost their home - no one is interested in buying a home any more.

The ground needs to be treated in the area and any leaking roofs etc needs to be corrected.

Just treat it as a rental on your taxes, the IRS and your underwriter are probably not family discussing you over dinner.