The repairs are high in the 2016 P & L because the owner had stated that he put some home repair supplies in there ($4000 to be exact).

We still have lack of inventory and supply keeps dropping.

I understand this may be different in different areas but was just curious if there was an average/rule of thumb on how much you could increase rents if you supply the units with a washer/dryer for the tenant instead of just having the hookups for them to supply their own.

If this is true, it's likely the supply of affordable housing in Providence, Warwick, Pawtucket, West Warwick, Central Falls, North Providence, South Providence, etc will remain extremely tight.

If there is high demand, and limited supply, prices will go up. 

My question is: if we redeem our personal credit card points for Lowe’s / home dept gift cards to go towards supplies/materials/cabinets etc, can we deduct that as an expense even though we used a gift card vs a credit card or cash?

Forgive my oversimplified view of the world, but does seem to me that supply will increase to meet demand. 

You may get a finders fee or find a deal and they supply the funding and you split the profit.   

You have a running toilet or a leak in your service line (or somewhere else on the supply side).

It seems to me accepting bids for a rental would only benefit the landlord in a very competetive rental market with low supply/high demand where you might find high quality renters willing to oubid each other just to get into a place.