When people make unreasonable or petty requests, I'm not going to be very accommodating. 

I would try to address this unless the repair cost is unreasonable. 

You can charge a fee And I do if it's unreasonable.

That might be salt in the wound in her eyes, and unnecessary (assuming there already is a clause that covers this).Tenants know when they're being unreasonable. 

Ultimately your'e improving the property for all the tenants and nothing you are doing is an unreasonable request. 

They have their own contractors that work for them but their rates are unreasonable.

That seems unreasonable to me.I'd tell the other tenants that the building is smoker friendly, and if they want to live in a non-smoking building they can probably find one on Craigslist.  

I told him I wouldn't meet with anyone until he gives me a firm move out date so I can market the apartment and choose from a pool of qualified tenants.a couple questions:1.) is it unreasonable for me to market the place just the same as I always would when renting it instead of first showing it to the person he knows that might want to take over the lease?

I have heard from experienced landlords that it is often better to NOT let the tenant know that we are "owner/landlord", but rather that we are "just the PM" or even that we "just work for the PM".That way, it is easier to manage the tenants when they make unreasonable requests, we can just say "Sorry I can't authorize that, I just work for the PM" and we are not seen as the "bad guy" in the scenario, the unseen owner takes the blame.I wonder if this technique makes sense in a house hacking situation?

Alternatively, if they are being unreasonable with allowing you to show the property, I would ask them to move out at the end of their lease in Sept. and not transition into a month-to-month agreement.