This is a picture of my first SFH rental. Purchased in 2013 for $44K and about $20K of repairs/updates this now rents for $795 mo. and is worth between $80K-$100K. I could probably increase the rents to $850 in the next year or so since this area has grown in popularity some.
With the insanity that is the Nashville market this house could easily value at $120K+ and command closer to $1000 mo. in rent within the next 3-5 years.
Some of the repairs include knocking down an internal wall and making 2BR's into one. Some of the older homes in Nashville have extra small bedrooms which are quite uncomfortable.
New drywall, carpet, doors for the two bedrooms.
I chose to keep the old trim throughout the house since it was in good shape and instead sand it down and paint it all. This was quite a project but it saved loads of money.
Refinished hardwoods in the living room and hallway. New paint throughout most of the living area.
Also I added new insulation in the attic since the stuff we were able to salvage when we tore down the old sheet rock was a mess. In fact it broke our insulation blower when we initially thought we could salvage it. So the damage has been done, I will never blow insulation into an attic again.
In addition to the above I also had to buy a new window unit, refrigerator, haul out tons of debris and junk from the reno, and a slew of other small odds and ends, which I should've really kept track of better. But she turned out alright. It sucked doing it in the hot summer but looking back it was a fun challenge and a good investment thus far. Wish I could've bought 10 more!
