You may want to select an increment which is psychologically more acceptable to your tenants.

Having family nearby and having some familiarity can offer a significant advantage as well as psychological comfort, which is hard to underestimate when starting out.

I'm very new to real estate investing, however, not new to psychology.

She was working as an au pair and looking into doing her education in psychology in America.

I would add the HH Agreement if materials were supplied by the contractor, If it's just for labor it's really not needed, but okay if they do sign it.It's pretty much a psychological play when it comes to labor, they know they signed a release and they know they'd get their hand slapped if they claimed they weren't paid.

It’s all because of the psychological effects that the environment has for us.

Not worth an argument over $15...The other part of this project, which is an ancillary bonus, although logical I guess, is that the psychological value of my tenants seeing improvement on a building which was neglected has been HUGE. 

My personal theory is that tenants collect junk and abandon it just as easily because it helps them maintain a personal illusion that they have some control over their living situation, in psychological terms "an internal locus of control."

However, as @Dave Foster said, your issue isn't with the options available to him your problem is trying to understand and tweak the psychology of a seller and owner who's ideas of running a business do not sound similar to your own.

The real challenge becomes when you have either a super sensitive tenant to any traces...or a super psychologically sensitive tenant that is quick to flex the tenants rights and demand this and that.