I wonder if rent control laws will be easing anytime soon in this city - other than capping rent prices, I don't think they do anything to help improve the quality of rentals.

Learn to outperform the market by looking at property entry values and resale values based on improvement.

I’m sick to my stomach just speaking of it.

Time saving in property acquisition, building improvements, purchasing living units, etc.3.

Also, you are totally right, I will approach this one rental at a time to both improve my skills and check is this is for me.

•Target a property in the $800K–$1M range to maximize leverage while keeping costs manageable.2.Open a Second LLC:•Create a new LLC for this property acquisition to separate liabilities and maintain a clean structure.3.Assign Funds & Organize Finances:•Allocate funds to property improvements, marketing for new deals, and reserves for emergencies.

Something happens in there job, your head could be the price of there career improvement. 

Replacing countertops, though, is a capital improvement and usually has to be capitalized and depreciated over time.

Are there certain things that you may be able to improve quickly and cheaply to assuage fears of some buyers?

See what they do right, and find areas you can improve upon then make the jump.