I purchased and renovated a house with a separate legal mother/daughter apartment that I am preparing to Airbnb here in Central NJ. 

With $65,000 invested in strategic renovations, we transformed the home by modernizing key areas and enhancing its curb appeal.

If you decide to sell and find an investment property with a greater cash flow potential.A 1031 exchange would allow you to indefinitely all of the tax and use it to your advantage to reinvest into larger nicer property/properties.

@Polat Caglayan very ambiguosu question, but read the helpful info below to guide your next set of questions:)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Recommend you first figure out the property Class you want to invest in, THEN figure out the corresponding location to invest in.Property Class will typically dictate the Class of tenant you get, which greatly IMPACTS rental income stability and property maintenance/damage by tenants.If you apply Class A assumptions to a Class B or C purchase, your expectations won’t be met and it may be a financial disaster.If you buy/renovate a property in Class D area to Class A standards, what quality of tenant will you get?

That stopped when I stopped using third-party cleaners, but I also started to only leave enough for the stay.I use a small Dawn hand dish liquid that I fill between guests and larger hand soap dispensers in the bath and kitchen that I fill between guests. 

Since I work pretty hard at my day job and don’t have much renovation experience, I wanted something simple—a rental I could put a tenant in and at least break even.

Numbers always look good on paper but between holding costs when acquiring and renovating property, closing costs on can also add up.I am not saying it cannot be done, as I did it with about 75 loans in a very similar fashion (except I was buying NPL's and got them reperforming).

Are you set on starting with a larger property, or would you be open to beginning with something smaller to build experience?

First off, I really like how you’re thinking beyond just the renovation.. you’re creating a tailored investor strategy that builds excitement around upscale features.

I recommend researching the average appreciation over the past 10 years in your target area to get a clearer picture.As you know, in real estate, ROI comes from multiple sources: Home Appreciation:  Reno Appreciation: Value added through renovations or improvements (usually just in the first year).