If you do the repainting, carpet cleaning, show the property when it's vacant, minor plumbing fixes, etc. yourself I think you can get some great savings. 

Repainting the exterior of a home is one thing, repainting a 10-unit apartment building is another. 

I know this is rather blunt, but you have to be comfortable with uncomfortable situations at times as a landlord.One thing I do when I raise my rents, is that i offer to repaint the unit, or upgrade the property in some type of way.

How much for basic repairs such as repainting and carpet replacements?

Before I started being disciplined about that I'd get a house back and couldn't remember what color/sheen I had on the walls for touch up, so wound up repainting the whole room. 

Might need carpet replace and repainted are the only repairs needed.

They already put in all new windows, re painted the whole place, 2 new furnaces but could probably use a new roof in 5 years or so.

The carpet is getting replaced, full re-paint, trim and some sheetrock as well as some doors.

I'm wondering from a cost/benefit standpoint, would it be better to just leave it in there rather than incurring the expense of ripping out drywall, rebuilding a basic but nice brick fireplace, then hanging new drywall, taping, texturing and repainting?  

I didnt screen my first tenant , it has been a nightmare since 1988 , they pay the rent on time , they have raised the rent when I didnt ask , they had the driveway paved , they have repainted the whole inside of the house a couple times , they have been there 30 years .