Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

The best defense against rats entering your property is to seal off all entry points (holes, cracks in walls), remove food sources (dirty dishes, food left in trash cans), and water sources (like leaks). 

In our student houses we use a programmable thermostat, but our building monitoring system has its own sensors and can override the wall thermostat and will not allow the temperature to get below 10C (50F) ... we are presently testing a new software load that will also prevent them from cooling the house too far in the summer.

Burlap on the wall, postage stamp rug for a large living room, hodgepodge of items around the house with no real theme.

Local meet ups, facebook groups, anywhere hosts are hanging out join them.

Hey @Chi Lo - I actually have a video on my YouTube page about this (lookup ClosedByMo on YouTube).Regarding walls being damp and waterproofed, it means there needs to be waterproofing on the basement retainer walls (this is something you can do post-construction and the contractors would need to dig around the house exposing the basement/foundation to apply the waterproofing). 

It’s a 2/1 750 sf house built in the 1920s with  a concrete wall foundation and partial basement.   

It tends to hide marks better.Walls: Neutral tones like SW Repose Gray, Behr Swiss Coffee, or Moore Classic Gray are renter-friendly and modern.Trim and Doors: Use a crisp white like SW Extra White or Moore Chantilly Lace.Accent Walls: For a touch of style, consider an accent wall in soft blue-gray. 

Again, all answers that might be better answered in private.You are correct that a lot of lenders just don't understand how we work as investors but that's why some of us hang out here. 

Looks like a rubble type foundation wall.