You can take the classes online while where you are so that when you get here you are ready to test and hit the ground running.

Good luck with your  tests...   

Tuscan may be dated but distressed can be timeless.Anything done well and in good taste might be able to stand the test of time...lots of vintage bathrooms are prized by their new owners. i do agree vessle sinks might be the shag carpet, and pebble shower floors but I like them  

I got a major equity stake and was president.. ran that for 6 years.. 50 million HML in Bay area.disaster struck in 1989 to 1990  and I sold out in 1992  remember earth quake and war.Bay area took a huge hit then.I then through a sheer luck.. met my future bizz partner around the pool in Maui.. and I got in the timber business in Oregon I lived in Napa valley and commuted form 92 to 2001.. that was a GREAT run and one of the best business I have ever done.went into buying foreclosure in Oregon in 2001 it got uber competitive when trustee info become available on the net.. moved those funds back to HML  ( in those day I just wrote a letter ot the state and got a Mortgage bankers license no test required)  ran that company up to 35 to 40 million then got my postier handed to me in 2008 to 2010 and then put together a company to buy distressed assets.. ran that up to 350 homes form 2010 to 2013 got bought out and had a nice liquidity event.. now I just build houses in Oregon and Charleston and do JV deals with folks in 12 states.

It might be time to sell, might be time to refinance, might be time to put more money into the properties, might be time to raise rents.  

Agree 100%, get advice from a "been there done that" investor, not a salesman of turnkey property.At least with the banks around here, going from a freddie/fannie conforming note to a portfolio loan raises my interest 0.125-0.25% tops (not 2%), and the required down payment goes up 0-5% ie. 25% down, not 40%.

A really nice home selling for an exorbitant amount might be fine for the homeowner who’s blinded by thoughts of raising kids there and showing off a new bbq grill.

Im currently accepting deposits from tenants for their rent payments and Im running into the problem raised by @Marcia Maynard with one tenant who is now making partial payments.You can still evict if the tenant owes back rent. 

I'd rather get the market rate for the property and then not raise the rent in hopes of keeping a good tenant.

Option 3: Finding a Stranger: With a focus on a buy and hold strategy, I have read many tenant screening postings including **The Ultimate Guide to Screening Tenants** and decided to use this challenge as an opportunity to test what I was reading.