Lower quality products have seen super low occupancy numbers as of late.  

When it goes this far we usually order an air quality test.

Layer on better quality tenants and there are a lot of missed opportunities focusing on metrics that present favorably on a spreadsheet in the lower tier markets. 

New carpet and assorted repairs. we are hoping to spend more time in Asia the next two years and i am not impressed w PM here due to high costs and low quality considerations.

Your buddy hired a pretender, so they got a bad quote.A quality PM has a deep bench of honest, proven contractors.

Here is what you get when you hire a GC, someone who wants to call subs and add 2 - 3k on top and then never show up at the house, never manage the quality of work from the Subs, do not manage their time. 

@Bryan Fleming I use FreedomSkips.com same high quality data as Batch, NeedtoSkip, and SkipGenie without the high prices.

I will lever it lightly with assumable debt, or not at all, and keep this conservatism going until cap rates are ~100bps above interest rates on property of reasonable quality and nearby where I live and operate my business.If that happens next year, I’ll cash out refi to a moderate debt level and buy!

For example, adding a bathroom can increase your home's value by 10-20%, depending on the quality and type of bathroom.

They do build a solid and quality product.