Whereas, for routine monthly expenses like lawn care, pest control, or pool maintenance, you'd want to use actual expenses (and try to keep them as low as possible, obviously). 

I am too long winded for that stuff.. plus I don't want anyone following my daily routine .. and well frankly I don't need any more people asking me questions etc

According to my research a capital asset is:The IRS indicates what constitutes a real property capital improvement as follows:Fixing a defect or design flawCreating an addition, physical enlargement or expansionCreating an increase in capacity, productivity or efficiencyRebuilding property after the end of its economic useful lifeReplacing a major component or structural part of the propertyAdapting property to a new or different useA repair is as follows:Improvements that "keep" property in efficient operating conditionRestores the property to its previous conditionProtects the underlying property through routine maintenanceIncidental Repair to propertyReference is http://www.dbbllc.com/newsletters/focus/mar2012/irs-clarifies-capital-improvement-vs-repair-expenseNext time I will rent a small excavator, dig my own hole, and put on a Fernco.

The inspection is a health and safety inspection, and fairly routine. 

My repeat customers know the routine, I don't have to tell them.

Once they become routine and you embrace book keeping as a necessary part of investing you will be farther ahead.

For example "month-to-date transaction history from your online banking" being a routine requirement 2 or 3 times in a single transaction would have been impossible before the advent of online banking, but now it's the norm.

If lying and making up stuff is a routine part of how ABC operates, then that seriously calls into question the integrity of the business itself.

It is also, as had been indicated, a good excuse for routine inspection of your propertyBut there's a lot of other stuff around this problem, there's mess that needs to be addressed.

I said I would get someone to do routine maintenance on it and check it out (since I don’t know if that’s ever been done).