Take off the old valve, clean up the threads with a cloth (if they're clean but just wet) or a wire brush (if they have crud in them).

(you have to paint all of the cracks pretty vigorously with a brush, etc.) there were times where I said " why didn't I just rip this down and throw some drywall up??"

It was just one of those bullet points that always seemed to have disregarded or vaguely brushed on.  

I have to brush up on real estate laws...

I may paint with a broad brush here, but I don't see Dan the Dentist and Vicki the Veterinarian thinking solely in terms of optimizing their alpha for the 30-100k they put in Nick the New Guy's syndication.

All the grout lines and angles of the brick took forever to paint with a brush. 

Hard to tell because the dirt on siding seems to be brushed away from area.

It is amazing what that and some brushed nickel hardware and pulls will to to dress up some cabinets.

But it's also an outlier and it's not fair to paint a whole industry with such a broad brush.

That is just a broad brush.