There are a number of books and courses (and videos and tapes/cds) that have been written on rehabbing. The shortest detailed outline that I’ve ever seen was at least 200 pages long, so it’s going to be real difficult to give you any quality answer in a forum post.
I’ll still give you a quick rundown.
Pretty much the same way as anywhere else, which is whatever way that you can go one. It also depends on what your idea of “rehab” is. Do you want light fixup (paint, patch and carpet), or are you looking for more extensive rehab (new bath/kitchen, gutting the place, etc.). A good starting place would probably be your RE agent. Most REO’s need some rehabbing.
WAY to many to list in detail here. Mainly, you don’t want to get so hung up on getting a property that you forget to make sure that the numbers work right. In other words, Do Lose Money!
As much as needed to get it ready to sell, and not a penny more. Really, that’s to open a question to get a good answer. You need to fix (rehab) what’s wrong with the place, but don’t go overboard with unnecessary fixups. Example: If you’re in a neighborhood that has mainly 3/1’s in it, adding an extra bed or an extra bath is going to COST you money, not make you more. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Well, if you’re really good, you get paid when you buy, but I know that’s not what you’re asking. It’s hard to say because I don’t know your area, and I don’t know the level of rehabbing that you’re looking at doing. A PP&C can be fixed up and on the market in a month or less. A major rehab may take six months or better to fixup before hitting the market. Then you have to figure out your area’s market “sell time.” Here, for example, average time on the market is about six months.
A step by step only helps if it’s similiar to what you’ll be doing. Find that out first.