Well, perhaps my favorite quotes comes from the famous marathon runner and trainer,  Juma Ikangaa, "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."

As a coach, when I was deciding whether to send or hold a runner rounding third base, I was aggressive. if the defense had to make a perfect play to throw the runner out, I would make them make the perfect play, as I was a finance major and I knew statistically I had a better chance of them screwing something up and my guy scoring than I did them making the perfect play.

Have runners taped down to protect your floors (unless you do tile or something, then you're good.) get those baseboards in8.

But even with the poly coated wood, you are not bullet proof, so I would provide complimentary mats at the entries and even a couple of runners and area rugs in higher traffic areas. 

An assistant or runner may even be $100. 

If it is a $100/night studio than the cost of the pet fee and the bed runner is a huge expense. 

This is predatory in nature.I would say the runner up to that is no contribution from the borrower for down payment (maybe even closing costs).

Stairs:  I shopped ebay but there are rolls of runners at the box stores.  

I looked into hiring a courthouse runner to gather probates but at $75 an hour that was a non-starter :-).

That eliminates a lot of the talking, music, kid screaming noise.Another cheap option would be to buy a hallway runner carpet, and padding for under it and give it to your tenant.