Offer to give them their full deposit in cash on move-out day, if they leave the place clean and empty, etc.  

So it was managing a risk rather than for profit.I’ll defer to others on mortgage paydown versus investing, other than to say that you may want to consider how far towards your next house / investment property deposit you are with the money instead of recast / investing.James 

If you're living in it now, you'll probably be required to have a signed lease in place as well as proof that first month's rent/security deposit were collected in order to get a DSCR loan (they're business purpose loans and don't allow owner occupancy).

Quote from @Chris Olandese:  I like this too - it's very definitive which matches my work ethic.

I like the one that requires payments to be deposited in an escrow account:New York state law requires that consumers receive a written contract for home-improvement work that exceeds $500.

We focus on CapEX before beauty. as a realtor we understand selling or renting homes you have to make the home function, Roofing, windows, electrical and plumbing. after we address these we focused on beautify making sure the upgrades match the area and is forward thinking with color scheme, flooring, and flow.

What about the security deposit? 

For every good matching comp at a high price theres 16 poor priced matching comps that the appraisers only focus on.

If so, review it to ensure it matches the estoppel certificate4.

We have to order six months ahead from our Mennonite source and put a deposit down