A quality cordless drill, impact driver, circular saw, oscillating multi-tool, and reciprocating saw are must-haves for versatility and efficiency.

Due to personal faith based reason, I prefer to only invest in all cash deals that don't involve traditional financing (so typical passive RE options like syndications, RE funds with fixed returns, REITs etc are not a viable option for me).

What we typically see is a contractor trying to act as a bully as most homeowners are push overs.

Typically it is asking too much for rent, but it could be your advertising is poor or your property is not in good condition for that area."

As for a lot of the "your returns will be better with more leverage" that is typically true if your unleveraged yield is higher than your cost of capital.  

Here in Hawaii, condotel (vacation rental condo) financing is different from typical condo financing, so important to work with a local lender.

It also doesn’t typically mean the overall premium goes down, as the other rating factors are increasing more and this tiny decrease is lost in the overall total.   

First and foremost I have tried the typical solution of friends and family.

Sales agents typically don't have a lot of experience screening applications.

James, from a contractor's perspective I don't typically recommend re-facing cabinets.