We can easily save up the money needed without eating rice and beans.I am glad we got feedback on what to do here.

We have landlords in this very forum insisting their tenants are savages and should be treated like animals.

I've never heard of a rodent eating a lease

PM could do the same, but they can eat up your cash flow.

Eat the elephant ONE bite at a time! 

In addition, building into  the business model an intentional refinance in a short period of time, you are incurring double the financing costs, which eats away at your equity, and also resets your loan amount to potentially a higher amount if you are rolling in closing costs.

A few appliance repairs or non-payment of rent will eat that away.

If you DO NOT have a pet/animal, you STILL must complete your Pet Screening profile as "No Pet or Animals" which will be free of charge to you. 

So, if my actual cleaning rate is $385 and I list it as $300 (and eat the difference), is this a potential tax problem down the road?

As others mentioned, there is the cost to sell which can really eat into your equity as all those costs come from your equity but are usually based on the whole value of the property.