We will help you expand the thought process and harden up your estimate. 

One is to fix things up really nice to hopefully attract better tenants and the other is to harden the rental,  leave out as much as possible that can be easily broken so there's less things to fix and less headaches.

I'm going to assume that @Jacqueline Peterson, you've experienced some bad apples and have hardened your approach because of it.

When it hardens (after 45 minutes), you should get a standard hand sanding block (where you cut the sheet into 4 long strips) and a piece of 1-inch thick foam cut to fit under it and wrap good-quality 100-grit sandpaper around that.

Go purchase a brick house on the west part of Chicago, rent that out, it will definitely stand longer, with little to know effort.Don’t put your money in styrofoam, chicken wired houses, slapped together with glue and painted, hardened oatmeal.

So for example I'm very conservative and don't want any debt on them because I feel this hardens them in case of a severe recession.

You have to be hardened and impenetrable.

The putty will harden within a day to become a permanent repair.Your best bet might be to replace those damaged boards if you still can't get it right.

Dear Pocketers,How do you harden / bullet-proof your rentals?

.= appreciate your work more...if let's say their voucher is for $1,500, please consider this also includes utilities allocation so your actual total pay may be $1,300. bonus points for a lot of insulation in the walls and attic+-crawl space. my local HA has some discounts available with local vendors for energy audit and property insulation/green stuff. you harden your property by going to nice and  abuse-resistent: check your local competition and go one level above. kitchens and bathroom sells the property. also go directly to the heart of the head/ lady of the house!!!