Wash, rinse, repeat.

Theresa makes a good point above, it sounds like it will be worth a trip to bang out all the little things personally like removing decals, changing light bulbs and air filters, install doorbell, door stop, outlet cover, towel bar, clean gutter, power wash, screw the gutter downspout back on (5 min.) etc.... save yourself some money even with the airfare calculated in.

You can see there is plenty of space for a garage/breezeway... but I feel like it will just be a wash (10k to build, add 10k to listing price) Is it worth the hassle?

We also try to take photos but photos will not get everything such as paint on the cement patio (unless you photo every foot of the RE eventually there will be damage to something that does not have a photo) that takes a few hours to clean/power wash off. 

Was he paying me the money for nothing?

Boy was he right...This game is more underwriting than anything.

One I remember was H Cabinets. 

You can wash, rinse and repeat every year. 

Try different cleaners and solvents!

I would get some new sheet set. something simple off amazon to brighten it up a little, yet easy to wash.