New carpet upstairs, new lights, new outlets, scrapped off popcorn ceilings, texture that, new paint, new bathtub, with new tile (1970s forest green is kind of out of style), and soon a new vanity. 

Good morning, We always do things in this order:Exterior: roof, doors, windows,trim, paint, finishings (numbering, mailbox, lights, etc)Interior: electrical, plumbing, ceiling, walls,doors, trim ,texture, paint, floors, cabinets & countertops, vanities, appliances, fixtures, finishings Hope this helps.

I'm doing all the work myself, but am willing to share the load if people want to come help and learn about real estate investing, how to turn-over a rental unit, what upgrades get the most bang for your buck and tons of DIY projects like replacing a toilet, tiling, drywall, texture, and installing laminate flooring.

I scrub the addresses fairly hard, I create each mailing as a merge off the ink-jet printer using software, purchase 1st class stamps, and also use a PO Box for the return address.

He also has a timeshare private jet....

Marcus, you want to start attending some of the many Houston real estate investor meetings including The RICH Club, Wealth Club, Jet Lending events and Meetups.  

I would call your local sewer utility and ask if they have a jet truck with a root cutting head, and would they be willing to do the work for free or for fee?

You are correct direct mail is expensive so I make my own postcards with card stock, a paper cutter, MS word, and a color printer, I started with an ink jet and switched to a laser.

Texture: Retexture entire home after all new and patched drywall Paint: Paint entire home. 1 ceiling color, 1 wall color and 1 trim color.

Banks thinking they may actually use it as reserves etc.. but what do we do.. especially W 2 folks that got into deals with only their fico or liar loans.. next thing you know they pull 30k or more out and they do exactly what your saying.. instead of using it as reserves it goes for everything.. but .... the joke of paying off high interest credit cards .. then just repeat the cycle.. run them right back up.. or buy that Jet ski you always wanted and deserve.. or the RV or the trip to Fiji  etc etc.. it is for all these reasons there will always be deals and distressed assets in the US... a certain % of the public simply cannot handle their personal credit no matter what