purchased 35,000 reno 40,000all in $75,000 (in 1983)After a bunch of upgrades including for a 2nd time new kitchen,baths,hardwood, roof, landscape, etc. 

If she is too lazy to mow tell her you can recommend a local landscaping company that she can pay for to come do it .

New cabinets, new carpet, granite throughout the house, new doors (not all), paint the interior, touch up trim, paint deck, pro cleaning, touch up landscaping.... they purchased it all cash half a year ago... ;)

I have a SFH that I purchased for 50K put around 6K of cosmetic rehab into it (paint & carpet was really all the interior needed did some landscaping myself for curb appeal) got the down payment of 10K from my 401K.

This will not be terribly expensive especially in New Britain where landscapers are a dime a dozen. 

We're already at $30k and haven't bought cabinets, fixtures, bathroom tile or landscaping yet. 

New flooring, paint, bright lights, some landscaping, occasionally new appliance or two.

Remember that every property is different, (example owner pays water, sewer, garbage, landscaping, heating vs. tenant pays all those expenses; this can make a huge difference) so your best bet is to nail down as close as possible each line item in the expense column. 

I also do other bills at the same time, such as landscaper, utilities on my duplex, etc.  

One of my tenants likes doing small improvements as well (bathroom vanity, flooring, landscaping etc.).