Its great for me where I need to adjust to paying a mortgage and was worried about my monthly payment a little bit! 

I can see how an application fee per person can be a deterrent for applicants in my case whether for more upscale rentals people may see it as more normal.I am starting off as a non-refundable fee and measure the resistance, then adjust if needed.

But I purchased land in cash and leveraged it to build a new construction stick built home.

@Ernesto Garcia Thats right, i got investment property conventional loan at that rate for a new construction property. 

We do a new FULL lease every time because laws change, terms adjust, and it's negligent to do anything less.

Further enhancements included constructing a back deck and repainting the interior to modernize and enhance the home’s appeal.

The $80K from the HELOC used for personal debt won’t affect taxes but must be repaid upon sale if tied to the property.To minimize taxes, keep detailed records of your remodel expenses and selling costs to adjust your taxable gain.

When running your numbers, if purchasing a home that isn't new construction and less than $1MM, I would estimate 1% - 1.2% of the purchase price as your annual insurance premium. 

When that happens, you can adjust the rent to match current market rates.

Cleaning up our work area, I remembered what my old co-worker once told me on the construction site "There are 3 ways a job gets done: One way in our head, another way planned out, and how the job actually goes."