They are highly efficient and if you buy them from a hardware store and arrange your own labor the price is not too bad.  

You're right Foxconn in China does bulk of hardware manufacturing, that's what happened during the dot bomb/tech wreck.

Budget is 25K, there's different work like paint, fence, lighting, LVP/EVP, decking, refacing cabinets, some hardware replacement..

Building codes can be looked up--assessing the rate in which certain municipalities will add layers of difficulty to get things permitted are another.B) I was curious to see how people felt about big renos--but for me, the big reno would be for a personal family home and so as much as it hurts my wallet, in the more immediate future it's for family bliss.

All food must be in sealed Kerr jars, trash taken out daily, trash bins tightly sealed, hardware wire and steel mesh into every wall/every crack, and change your lease to require tenant to meet new standards. 

Real estate investors often find themselves traveling to and from rental properties, banks, hardware stores, and meetings with various professionals.

Sometimes you can work miracles on kitchen cabinets by painting or sanding them down and restaining them and simply changing the hardware to something stylish.

Paint, Interior, gutters, exterior paint, trim work, doors, fixtures, hardware, again all cosmetic. 

Supposed to sign the lease on Saturday but she had a friend text to tell me that her wallet and phone were stolen so she will not be home until Monday.

Schooling in my town is amazing, so there is no issue with that.Transportation to NYC is literally 2 minutes on every corner to the bus, so that isn't an issue.Additionally, I was told that I should stay away from homes with oil tanks for heating because if the oil tank was to leak, the soil would be contaminated and it would cause a big headache and a big whole in my wallet.