If you're spending 10s of thousands on RE don't skimp in other areas

One thing I would strongly encourage you to do is not skimp on a manager and on your website -- those two things will take you a long ways with maximizing your investment's potential.

They will only install vinyl stick-on planks.The lesson I learned in this is to be careful where you skimp on stuff.

Do not skimp on the credit and background checks.  

But, I have never skimped on repairs for tenants, taken more than 24 hours to get back with tenant on anything, accepted subpar tenant just to make it easy on myself, charged tenant or owner for 5 minutes worth of work, etc.

You already spent $250k so don't skimp on a cheap lawyer. 

It’s a distinction that’s unfortunately promoted here, which causes some to skimp on origination and loan docs.

The stuff that will be skimped on is international travel and some other novelties, watch how consumer spending is going.The price declines will be in the subpar areas, as you'll have to price people to move there and price them out of moving in the better areas. 

Don't skimp on beds though, because poor bedding ruins the entire experience. 

Areas where damage can result from a poorly done reno are not where we skimp.