However, the election can allow you to recognize some of those improvements as repairs, so long as they are $2500 or less per line item.So, for example, if you had to replace a countertop and the parts and labor to do the install is $1800, that would *usually* be considered as an improvement. 

Need help on what type of countertops I should use on my small 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom town home.

Oddly enough it's probably cheaper than the dorms (Goshen Hall was mine)On the one hand college students will likely rent for 1 maybe 2 years max, but on the other hand they probably couldn't care less about countertops, crown molding, and other pricey things that would matter to people treating your place as a home.

I would, definitely, paint the cabinets, change out the hardware and replace the countertop with laminate. 

Also putting in quartz countertops, taking out the laminate---Taking down the wall and adding a half wall to the cabinets in the kitchen, to create a more modern open concept floor plan.

Small town Texas loves laminate flooring and tile countertops and bathrooms. 

It's worth noting we also put a lot of updates in the house i.e new bathrooms, new floor, new ac, new roof, quarts countertops etc which will help us get a good rental rate, thus I estimated we can cash flow $500. 

Purchase price: $265,000 Cash invested: $30,000 Full interior renovation included: new fixtures, appliances, kitchen backsplash, primary bedroom bathroom upgade, wood-look tile throughout, interior paint, new HVAC, and quartz countertops among other items.

I did the remediation demo myself legally and then hired a cabinet builder to redo the boxes, I was able to save the facing and all but one kick panel on the cabinets but I ruined the counter tops and had to replace them, ended up spending nearly 5k with the plumbing bypass and cabinet work.

Paint, flooring, countertops, plumbing repairs, blinds, and general cleanup.