It's also important to remember that low maintenance costs don't last forever, and that will an increase expense item as time passes. 

Upgraded kitchens, bathrooms, and other items that hadn't been touched for years What was the outcome?

You just have to handle cleaners and maintenance items. 

If I were you (and you meet the items listed above), I would definitely still move forward with licensing since you already have the property.

I've even heard of GCs using auction type settings for returned items at Home Depot and Lowes for steep discounts.I've learned a lot about the GC game as I was up close to over 40 projects last two years and some went well and some did not and when they did not it was all Contractor related.If a GC isn't sourcing cheap materials at the same time milking the hell out of his 150-200 per day workers, then you can find yourself eating into your margins real fast. 

For the most part its just health and safety items, which are items we should have remedied anyways.As someone else mentioned, biggest thing to avoid is having the house tagged as vacant which the city will do if it sits empty for too long (handful of months, grass not cut, etc).

The 25K would go towards a rate buy down.As far as accounting for cap ex and maintenance for newly replaced/updated items, I'd still recommend doing it.

We’ve got to separate this type of loss from those in which the 5 items listed above weren’t followed. 

Covering most of the routine maintenance items here. 

Here are a few tips that might help as you get started:Market Analysis: Since you're open to out-of-state investing, look for markets with steady population growth, job diversity, and a balance between rent prices and local wages—those factors often hint at stability and demand.