Income/Investment Property

[Swaggs]

Does anyone own rental properties or have you ever "rehabbed" a property for profit? I have experience in building and remodeling, but

I'm kind of interested in both and would love to hear some insider info and experiences. I have experience in building and remodeling and my wife has a good, stable job, but I don't know if the hassle of managing renters (and the legalities that come with them) is worth it or if there is enough profit in rehabbing.

[Logan]

I don't have personal involvement in it, but have a friend who has done it for about 5 years and has been pretty successful in small PA towns where property is cheap. Also through my job I've seen people try and fail at doing larger scale projects.

The answer, as it is many times, is "it depends." Sounds like you have the most important component to it though, with your desire and ability to do a lot of the work on your own. You're definitely going to need a lot of free cash, and then probably some more in case extra stuff comes up.

As far as managing the renters...my friend that I mentioned before has a bunch of renters and considers it pretty easy, and then I have a roommate who rents out his own condo in NJ while he lives with me in the city and he's had plenty of hassles with his tenants.

[Telle]

Don't rent to family. Ever.