I had one tenant say he was too busy, so he gets a gift card to a coffee shop mailed inside a Christmas card.There will be hard nosed posts about how certain landlords say their gift is the use of the rental unit, gifts are not appropriate, etc., but I reckon what goes around comes around.

If you hire a multi million dollar company with a large staff and ties to the community there is a 90% chance they are more expensive but a 0% chance that they will take your deposit and stuff it up their nose or drink it away.

A kid in school was bullying him and one day my friend punched him in the nose.

A regular buyer will think this as well.The biggest sin I see is when a bathroom or kitchen is only half rehabbed.That is worse than doing nothing at all.If you don't have the money to do it right it won't be a benefit to a renter or a potential buyer.Kitchens and baths sell homes and are not the place to skimp yet many do as it costs the most to fix up.My friends have had Corian for years and it has held up excellent.It depends on what finish you get as well.They had the upgraded bull nose edging to round out the edges and provide a dramatic effect.That makes me think about another question.Do you get upgrades for the edging on granite or leave yours plain.I could see in a high end rehab you might need the upgrade finishing.Here is article on radiation.http://www.graniteland.com/infos/home/is-granite-radioactive

You get a better sense of the space as your nose can tell you a lot.  

We live in an area where there is a high likelihood that at some point someone who is politically ambitious will do just that and have someone arrested and prosecuted for thumbing their nose at federal law.

No SE taxes.  

However in my market without an “In” to a contractor an outsider would pay through the nose for labor and have a holding period of 6 months-2 years for quality work.

I think the economy worked better when the IRS was sending out stimulus check to people (refunding their taxes) who worked, like they handout to the vast plethora of people who do not work.Now it seems like they want to claw that money back, and are nose diving the economy in the process (which will probably cause a lot of suffering).Lets see if more huge layoffs happen before the holiday season, or (hopefully) maybe this will be it (???)

Rental income is defined by the IRS as passive, so no se tax anyway...