You could offer to fix some or all of it, but advise them that the process of them moving in will delay and we will have to postpone the lease to make sure that the items are corrected before they move in. 

I guarantee that most of the successful investors in your local market, who have been around for a decade or longer, have purchased some or all of their properties using debt.

Looks like like the coating(s) put on the floor were inadequate

Should I send a letter, phone call, in person or all?

Even if you could turn the unit in $500, it would be a quarter of your allocation.Good luck I have been using a rough estimate of 5% for repairs and 5% for cap ex.But from your examples I can see how this quickly becomes inadequate!

Is it financially worth it to do it if the answer is no to any or all of 1-5?

If you could do it, I'd also just rent to law students  - or all med students. 

Super nice of you to cover your contractors screw up, if the contractor had the keys and there is no sign of forced entry I would just do a back-charge for a portion or all of the cost of replacement depending on the age of the stolen appliances since 1 the doors were left unlocked or 2 his people ripped you off. 

I used to be very enthusiastic about it, really gung-ho and I'd do research for two/three weeks solid looking at deeds (liens) on many of the properties.I once gave a tip to a friend that if he got the property we would sell it and split the value minus his costs, it was oral deal (he was good friend), I could not afford the lien ($1700 plus subtaxes for three years), he ended up getting killed by a car crossing street.

Paint them pink or green or purple or all three.