He is really a nice guy and I don't think he would rip me off, and if he did, well, that would just be the last deal we did together.Does this sound fair and reasonable? 

What does he have to loose if he rips me off for my deposit?

Not ripped or loose.. so I'm thinking either replacing it with a more rough carpet runner or another hand rail.

@Caleb Heimsoth  there are some undertones that all contractors will rip you off , they are lucky to have your work , and they are working to get drunk this weekend .

For us, knock on wood, that's all you can do there and as long as your insurance doesn't kick you to the curb, you'll be fine.Biggest common risk I hear about is bad tenants ripping your places up and sucking away your time and equity. 

My initial instinct is to tie the dog down with a leash that still gives him free reign of the yard, but I fear a dog that can jump the fence may be able to just rip the leash out.

Just like I refer borrowers all the time to the top HML companies that I know wont rip people off .. and don't take up front money and actually fund the deals .. of course you need 20% down.. but if your in mid west that is usually 10 to 20k maybe 30 to 40k.. and frankly if you do not have that amount of liquidity plus reserves the last thing you should be doing I trying to flip houses... 

floors that are currently completely covered with old wall to wall carpet that we'll rip up once reno is done.

Roughly, 1/3 of the net proceeds...That's a straight rip off!

@James Wise Anyone can go online at Google and rip any company for any reason.