You will be able to make accurate repair assessments and estimates which will lead to better buy-side offers for you and much greater customer appreciation from your buyers.Owning your own investment properties is one of the best ways to learn, but that takes some time. 

I rent tools and equipment all the time, am a great customer, and have never received or expected a reward.

Some relatively simple formulas can make it almost automatic and will suit your needs.If you want to get additional features support, my personal favorite cloud based accounting platform is Xero, but also Quickbooks is extremely popular with lots of customization options.Let me know if you have any other questions.

@Brian Erlich -Very few (if any) excellent contractors are going to be willing to let the customer buy materials themselves.

Most of my long time HVAC customers either do electrical and plumbing or some combination of the trades.

I am reading that it is best to list customer security deposits under ONE liability account but list them by name so you can use an "item" to refer to them and issue a credit memo upon a tenant leaving.  

Your property manager is your employee (or company you are a customer of), make it clear that they are not fulfilling their obligations to communicate and forward you the deposits.  

I guess you can say that I have trouble selling ourselves to the customer, I'm trying to learn by shadowing my contractors when they're speaking to them. 

75 - 300 / sq' , i couldn't tell you, are you building a storage shed or a house with quartz or granite counter tops, marble floors in foyer / baths and decorative tiles in the baths, stained hardwood trim, custom kitchen and decorative trim throughout the house ?

I just want to keep all my customers in want place.