So he can grow a garden.  

I am the builder and I have done projects in Lake Nona, Winter Garden, Kissimmee.....just to name a few.

I'll pick a silly example, Curb Appeal (recall I'm B&H investor).Say I just love gardening and the yard is plain old grass. 

So you basically have to buy better than that, not to put too fine of a point on it, or remove the Realtor from the equation, or hire trades directly, or all of the above.You seem to have quite a few questions that would require a lot of typing, might I suggest joining us in Middleburg Heights at the Brew Garden tonight at 6 for our monthly BP meetup?

The Cleveland BP meet up is the last Thursday of the month at 6pm at the brew garden in Middleburg heights.

@Ron Szmik organizes an event at the Brew Garden off Bagley Rd 4th Thursday of the month.  

I even ran a garden hose down the pipe and turned it on.

One reason I feel he should share in maintenance responsibilities (at least chipping in some money for a gardener) is because I am maintaining the home for, not just myself, but also the tenant in our mother-in-law, my gf, and the upstairs tenant. 

I remember cleaning one granddaughters room with a garden rake to get down through all the layers of stuff.Initially didn't know what to do so I wasted time filing for our version of an eviction "just to cover all bases"....didn't go back into the house until the Marshal had served the notice.  

Many turnkey providers do this.Here's an example: http://lawsonwealth.com/3522-garden/I've also seen spreadsheets for cap rates that account for SFRs (heck, even condos).