Unless you are trying to say he could have possibly achieved a better return on his investment by looking at the opportunity cost, his ownership constitutes a positive gain (investment gain) were as renting a similar home at the same amount would have net no yield with the exception of what he would have been made investing his down payment into something else.  

The Constitution only restricts the actions of the government.

There are many definitions on what constitutes a repair (100% deductible in the year) vs replacement (depreciable over several years, usually 27.5 years).

We seem to have different criteria for what constitutes a good investment. 

The policy needs to be funded right up to the legal limit for what constitutes life insurance vs an investment in the IRS's view.

For example, if I had to replace the trash cart from the curb to it's storage area, that constituted an additional fee.

That constitutes fraud.

And therefore, does not constitute "small losses as self-insured" by our company", as you put it.

Funny thing is, in order to "get that buyer", you had to market it somehow and by marketing it, negotiating a contract with a seller, negotiate a purchase price with a buyer and collecting a fee for it constitutes brokering services in all 50 states.

Constitution, every state Constitution, thousands of law's not to mention the very foundation of the U.S.A. and the declaration of independence itself.