Finally, resist the desire to make a big advance to your contractor for materials at the start of the job.

Like Ann, I resisted getting one for years.

Use a speckled carpet with an 8 pound pet resistant pad it’s not that much more expensive for the higher quality pad and makes the carpet last longer.

Most will try to get you to sell those and invest in high fee mutual funds but PLEASE resist.

Quartz is more stain resistant than granite, won't scratch or scorch, and IMHO, has a more modern (yet classic!)

I received some resistance from 1 of the tenants and they gave me a long story about their financial misfortunes.

Ultimately there is going to be resistance to change because you are asking agents to go from a known payout (their commission) to an unknown based on the number of hours. 

Great public schools and constant student demand make Chapel hill more recession-resistant than many markets, but this also comes with huge demand from homebuyers.

If you haven't already I'd recommend making sure your boyfriend is aware of your goals and desire to get involved in real estate so that you don't run into any resistance down the road that might keep you from reaching those goals! 

Plaster is a great wall surface, it is actually "higher end" and damage resistant since it is hard as concrete, the reason no one uses it anymore is because it is more expensive to install and harder to patch.