<prompt> Human: I recently inherited my grandfathers home and I need some advice. The home is in an up and coming neighborhood that has lots of new houses being built all over the block. Investors are coming in buying land or tearing down old homes and building multiple homes on smaller lots. Homes are easily selling for between 350k-600k. Due to this the estimated Zillow prices of my grandfathers home spiked up to 300k. I know this is not an exact science, but I want to give some reference as to the potential of the property. All of this being said, the house is not in great shape. He was unable to get around later on in life so repairs fell behind. Gutters are falling off, so is the siding, it will need a new kitchen, and bath. The biggest thing is that the foundation has a huge crack and the house does not seem to be very safe. It is being held up with jacks...I dont even want to know about the plumbing or electric... I suspect if it is inspected it would be condemned. To add to the complexity, the house is in North Carolina while I am currently living in Texas. What should I do? Should I use an home equity line of credit to fix it up and sell it? Rent it? or should I look into the possibility of demolition to build a new structure on the lot? What sorts of things should I be aware of, where do I start?  <response>: All depends on how much investment you want to put in. More investment can certainly mean higher returns, but its by no means guaranteed. Your options are:1. Sell as-is in the near future. Risk - very low. Reward - moderate. If you dont have many assets yourself still renting yourself, not much in savings, etc this is hands down your best option. You may not get top dollar, but you risk almost nothing and get a nice lump of cash in return.2. Fix the issues wrong with the house and sell it as a home, not a tear down. Risk - moderate to high depending on cost of repairs. Reward - moderate to high. If the damage to the house is mostly cosmetic, then investing 10-30k might double the sale price. Really depends on what is wrong of course. If you open things up and find the house is really not salvageable, then you lose your investment and stick with option 1.3. Fix the problems with the home and update it so you can rent it out. Risks - High. Reward - low to high. Biggest challenge toward rental properties is that are a long-term investment. While they might payout big over long periods of time, your initial debt will trump earnings for at least a couple of years. You also open yourself up to lots of legal obligations which may be difficult to fulfill from a distance.If you have the money, it might be worth making a trip out, hire an inspector and figure out just how much work the house would need to be sold as a home. Then you can make decisions about if it is worthwhile. If those costs make you wince, then just work on unloading the house ASAP for a quick windfall. 