I have quad 4 unit buildings that are town homes.What I have found is it is much better to put all tile on the main floor instead of carpet or vinyl.Upstairs with the carpet it doesn't get worn down as much as the main level.When you evict a tenant with tile it is mop and go and not fixing tears in vinyl or carpet that can't be salvaged.The dirty carpets tend to attract bug problems as well.You can find tile cheap and buy a big area rug to warm it up for cheap.The key with tile is the contractors can kill you on the install fee.You have to find a contractor hungry for money.I can get tile 12 X 12 for 56 cents a sq ft.Main level I would spend about 229.60 in tiles,another 150.00 in mix for bonding and grout for finish and just put back old finish trim down and repaint.Can get a hungry contractor for 75.00 a day to tile day one and finish grout 75.00 day two.Total cost 529.60 for main level.I have 1,178 sq ft with 2 story but I leave carpet upstairs and on the stairs and tile the main.Don't pay high prices.Be patient and turn over rocks to find the great deals.

Wes, I've just uploaded a file to BP - it is a list of examples of wear and tear vs damages.

A very general rule of thumb is that if the tenant does something that causes the landlord to spend money, and the reason for the expense is due to more than standard wear and tear, the expense can be passed on to the tenant.

This is just a hunch, but i think they had a big board meeting when they were nearing there target reserve levels to initiate release and it went: "well boys n girls, we will have the reserves built next week to start dumping these reo's, but know what, our lobbiests rocked and got us all the money we could ever need, and I'm loving these reserve numbers, screw it, lets invest these reserves and make MORE, and just trickle those reo's out until values make it worth our while to dump em" "but sir, what if these decaying assets start costing us, in Michigan we have to tear them down?"

But, here recently, every roofer I talk to says we need to tear off the old roof.

If not I may tear it down and just make a deck.Regarding the flooring, I'm budgeting for new subfloors.

This is obiviously a very old house and my guess is you could tear it down and build a new one cheaper than fixing this one to prime condition.

If not, they could make you tear it out and start over.

I didn't read through all of it but it seems good enough.On the pet issue I do not do deposits.I do a one time "pet acceptance fee" that is non-refundable.I explain to potential tenants that even though they take care of an animal over the years the pets will do damage to the property.I tell them it covers my costs to fix the normal wear and tear an animal causes over time.You can also charge a monthly pet fee to have the animal if you like.

I wanted to add the cost I said for your kitchen is based on having to do primer and and 2 coats to cover the blue.With my units I am going over white that is worn down so I don't need as much paint to cover a larger area.Some nicer quality paints are mentioned in some other posts which I can see using in a flip or a really upscale high end rental area where the tenant demographic is different.For rentals I use paint that is cost effective and will pop and carpet that is made for wear and tear for the type of tenants I have.All they usually care about is it's "fresh and clean".