Which is better in my situation - doing repairs myself (possibly $50k) and increase the likelihood of selling (not incurring holding cost of interest on HELOC and PITI on 30 yr/mortgage).

A freind of mine recently had an interesting experience investing there, and it's got me thinking.

It explains the importance of creating your core four.

https://www.har.com/content/department/mlsHouston Real Estate Highlights in September, 2024:-Single-family home sales increased 1.7 percent year-over-year;-Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes went from 45 to 51 days;-Total property sales were down 3.3 percent with 8,228 units sold;-Total dollar volume was statistically flat at $3.3 billion;-The single-family median price was up 1.1 percent to $335,000;-The single-family average price edged up by 0.3 percent to $415,435; -Single-family home months of inventory registered a 4.4-months supply, up from 3.4 months last September.

What certifications are you thinking of? 

I've only dealt with residential at this point but am looking into self storage and on my search for commercial I stumbled upon a car dealership property where the owner is moving out of state and motivated to sell the property.

Making it mandatory on top of the management fee ended up pricing us out of our market.

They do kind of the same model. 

I'm in a space to do some house hacking, and am under the general (unresearched, unless you count years of Zillow watching) opinion that my local rental market is healthy.

Hey Kylie,Your question hits home for a lot of us trying to make the most of our hard-earned money.