These may be things like having certain appliances, landscaping, etc.4.

Seperate living spaces have been popular for decades and sell.As to the back, you won't need a full length lower deck or patio, but using bark or gravel along the length of the house nicely landscaped really sets the back entry off with a smaller area for BBQ and seating.Post some pics of the back, I'm sure you will get plenty of ideas.....

These folks don't really understand the landscape and get taken with comps from a few blocks over but might as well be a world away to local homebuyers.

This is a slippery slope and I am very interested to see how these changes will affect the investing landscape.

I'm currently still working the bathroom, then the kitchen, then landscape and update doors and trim around the house.

Even with numerous email convesation, they keep coming back with excuses (last one was they are hiring new landscaping company that was 3 weeks ago).What is my course of action here?

I would add a bit for the inclusion of landscaping if that is something atypical of your market.

Start with landscaping = cut grass weeds, trim bushes & trees.

So, you could beat up the seller on price/terms for having to buy a death scene house and then rent it out for a while, change the color of the house, different landscaping, etc. changes the perceived character of the house from persons driving and walking by.

When flipping houses in short time periods do you believe it is better to contract the services (i.e. painting, landscaping, and minor improvements on the scenario that the house was only needing minor cosmetic improvement and you were able to get it at an undervalued price) to get the job done quicker and more professionally so as to have it back on the market quicker which in turn will shorten the months in which you will pay the mortgage payments on the house, or is it better or equal to do the actual jobs yourself?