How much rent does this improvement make?

[Robert Gunther]

I'm looking for feedback on how much a renovation could increase the rent.

Below are photos of a unit that needs some love and one that has been done. They are in the same building, same floor, same view, same size and very close to the same layout.

If we assume the unfinished property could bring $1000 in rent, how much would the redone one bring?

I'm trying to gauge how long the unit would have to rent to payback the renovations.

[Robert Gunther]

Seems like everyone is in agreement on the issue.  

Buy homes in the lower end of the market, do the minimum improvements to make it rent-able and move on to the next deal.

If you put 20k into a unit in upgrades and it rents for $100 more per month, it would take 16.6 years to get your cash back.  Odds are good during those 16.6 years payback, someone is going to trash your upgrades and you would be back to zero (actually below zero).