Took off the space right off the kitchen that is heated and cooled with laundry equipment but appraisal came in good.

We left a few areas of sublfloor and sealed with KILZ or something like it, bombed the house, painted every surface and put new flooring - we should have torn out all the subfloors, sprayed the attic and replaced all the heating registers.Cats also pee on things like the boiler, oil tank, hot water heater - all your mechanicals in the basement.

I have seen the house a few times and have recently had two contractors give me estimates on finishing the house (heating, plumbing, paint, carpet, cabinets, fixtures, etc, etc).

I would say the most expensive part of rehab for me is roofing and heating.

I look for pictures (my San Antonio inspector actually runs a fiber optic camera down the vents to look for breaks that may cause trouble by dumping heat or moisture between walls or in other places that I don’t want) and descriptions.

They actually showed you what he ate at which meals of the day.... it was scary :).

I do miss the area - except for the heat - you can have that.

Our r.e. taxes and heating costs have gone through the roof.

Our reserve fund was depleted to almost nothing because the money had to be directly just to keep common services in place (our complex provides water and heat).

We are up to 30 units now, so even a $20 gift card plus travel and time OR shipping is $650 plus.Cards alone with stamps is not anywhere near as expensive, maybe $50 - but the time investment should be considered.We have been pondering the benefits of such actions, other than making us feel good.In line with the thinking of some others who have already posted - we spent almost $100k this year in upgrades to our properties: roofs, steps, porches, total rehabs, outside painting, new entry doors, new heating systems (9 units), new trash cans.