Or a dab of caulk and color match paint to the brick and you'd never notice it unless you looked for it.Is the outlet installed in brick or drywall?

I use a filler that is the same color as the paint often I fix the holes and no need to paint over.

I believe they make a color close to the hardwood floor you currently have.  

@Ashish Acharya thanks for the color!

We painted it to match the neutral wall color used to paint the rest of the house.

Anyone have an investor friendly contact to do flex duct work?

The joists are about 2 ft higher but there is too much in the way to get to the joists, water pipes, furnace ducts, would take more work than needs to be and I am fine with the ceiling height where the drop ceiling used to be.Originally posted by @Theresa Harris:Is there no framing about the drop ceiling? 

The only time I've seen this turn into an issue is if you offer to pay for the flooring and then the tenant comes up with more requests every couple of months (e.g. new toilet, different color paint, new washer/dryer, etc.) 

I love the idea for the lighter colors, do you think the SW agreeable gray with white trim will be good?

I gave too much control up without having worked with this guy before, and several aspects of the construction work went off course, including the kitchen design and color pallette.