I think it's either a formed habit of a certain person.Most of the skilled trades people, as I have come to notice, have some sort of "quirts" - not sure how else I would call it.I have a guy Jorge who is probably one of the few guys left who knows how to restore terrazo floors. 

The property is now unihabitable and from what I can guess so far its going to be 6-8 weeks for the house to be restored and ready to rent again.My question is what should I be prepared for that I haven't thought of. 

I am working to restore an old 1960s ranch style home. 

There is no way the VA thinks you are going to buy a 4-plex and live in all the units yourselfThe VA has a refinance option that is very good, and it specifically lets you use it even if the property is a rental and not occupied by the veteranThe VA allows you to use your secondary entitlement to own more than 1 property at the same time using your VA loanThere is a once-in-a-lifetime restoration of benefit for a property you fully own so you can reuse the VA loan to buy additional propertyThe VA knows people invest with this loan while also getting a place to live, and they have made rules specifically to accommodate this activity.

The price was $16,000 but if I do the connection and the lawn restoration they knock 3 grand off .    

Can I claim $595 (avoiding 1099 minimum) and not claim the rest, or do I just pay them in cash and not claim any of this as an expense? 

I asked this my landlord what it means and he said that they plan to create a deposit summary, but cannot do so until the unit is vacated by all units because my previous roommates are living there so they cannot restore the room back to its previous state. 

If you perform a betterment, restoration or adaptation to the property then the cost for it must be depreciated over its useful life.

For example a great slogan I heard and try to live by is "Live on less and invest the rest". Or

Some have reserves for major restoration, but many do not. 10k to 20k assessments are not uncommon in old Florida buildings.