Apologies for my delayed response here.

By all appearances, you may have misled them, intentional or not.Give them window units, reduce the rent and apologize.

I responded with an apology, promise that they would promptly receive the check (it had actually been ready to go for over a week, but our schedules never lined up for me to give it to them, and our neighborhood has seen mail and package theft), but I also included a list of things I wanted them to fix.

I apologize if my question is hard to follow at places but any ideas or thoughts would be greatly helpful and appreciated.Thanks!!

Apologies CJ, must have missed your line about the taxes.

But since we are speculating, I will throw one out: Between the impending light rail expansion, University of Washington Tacoma campus expansion, more affordable home prices (compared to most of King county), and added amenities (e.g., Ruston Waterfront project), how long will it be before one of the large Seattle-based companies decides to relocate to Pierce County? 

Don't apologize.

I apologize for the length, but I wanted to offer up as much as possible rather than ask for advice without showing I have done the work up front (big pet peeve of mine)

I noticed you have a nice list of contractors @Dawn A. but I was wondering if you have any recommendations for GC’s that have done gut rehabs or remodels.Appreciate the help, and apologies for hijacking this thread!

I will try to ask this without sounding rude and I apologize if it comes through like that over text.