The underlying fundamentals that drive returns for real estate investors are (low) supply and (high) demand, population growth, high paying jobs (ideally in diverse industries for maximum recession resistance), affordability and desirability.

I have been saying this for 1.5 yrs and have met a lot of resistance on BP.

General rule of thumb I have heard is that carpet in a rental is expected to last about 5 years.The real fix here is buying premium higher traffic resistant carpet, or converting to a hard flooring on your next replacement, like LVP. 

We resist.  

While completing a Cost Seg study, they were very resistent to me using 6% and because of time-sensitivity, I decided to default to the "rule of thumb" method that you mentioned and used 80/20. 

This will hold true in any lower cost inventory neighborhood, not a Philadelphia specific problem but resist the temptation particularly if you are not a local hands own operator.

You may find it useful to seek an unofficial preliminary meeting with the local powers-that-be to get a read on how much resistance there's likely to be with your development, as well as getting an early read on things they'll "suggest" to make necessary approvals more likely.

Resist the temptation of buying what your family wants and instead buy something you'll be able to easily rent when you move!

What is the best way to assess and submit for claims with insurance with least resistance from the insurance company ( assuming it’s not a smooth process.

Also its work they asked for and was something that was a very big complaint when we did a walk through before we bought the property and we are following through with it so i don't understand the resistance.