The rental mgmt companies will paint a very rosy picture to get your business. 

I wasn't counting for paint or small things of that sort.Besides that, I ran the numbers and found cashflow to be positive and, if my estimate is accurate, about a 12% ROI.Does anyone currently invest in NB that can shed some light on the markets there?

I work for a paint manufacturer and can get you paint for $5-$10 a gallon.

Another example was a small dent in a wall that didn't need to be filled in that I puttied anyway... then realized that was one of the few walls in the house that I wasn't going to repaint and I didn't have the original paint color.

If it's light rehab (paint, paper, minor stuff) then you probably don't even need to pull permits.As far as if it's too big...

For this purpose, they probably won't be the pre-finished variety, but rather ones that need to be completely stripped, re-painted, etc. 

Plus MyGaREIA has a home depot benefit of 2% rebait on all purchases AND 20% Behre paint discount at the cash register.  

But, offering a $4 cup of coffee, attending a conference, or offering your time to that investor to dig a trench, paint a wall, or clean out a unit while she/he is flipping a building gives them reason to think you are worth the skin you are rocking.

my neighborhood doesn't support granite...again going for durable and cost effective.Paneling - the living room has paneling and i was thinking about just painting over it and not risking pulling it down and opening the pandora's box that MAY lie beneath.  

Paint everything, and add decent fixtures to push rents to upper market.I have already began marketing the property for rent, even with no interior photos yet I have had 25 or so people attempt to apply who are happy with the rents.