I did pretty much all the work myself and did kitchen cabinets repainting and added finishes, added subway tiles to the front wall and back splash, added laminate through out the house, painted, and fixed up the yard and cleaned the privacy fence and painted the outside trim of the house and so on.

As someone who has been looking at homes in the Bay Area over the last year, the homes with original details stand out (and sell for more) among the generic flips (grey wood laminate, recessed lighting, white cabinets and subway tile and all beige bathrooms).

I've seen a lot of rehabs lately with large 12 x 12 tiles opposed to subway tile or something else.

I agree that the best thing is not to spend $250K on a reno and try to collect $2600 or more in rent.Years ago we decided not to live or do rentals in Ridgewood due to the lack of subway service to Manhattan.

Subway franchise.

New floors, new paint, new kitchen, new baths, subway tile, new plumbing, new soffit and more...... 

They love LYFT/uber, walking and the growing subway system, and the occasional car/truck rental, some of your applicants may be the same due to changing demographics.

What was done:Painted inside and outPainted roofReplaced flooring with new laminate, tile in baths and carpet in rooms.Replaced the tub, vanity and lighting in the master bath and tiled the shower and floors.Replaced the vanity and lighting in the guest bath and tiled the floorsPainted and repaired cabinets and installed granite counters and subway tile backsplash.Moved master closet door from the inside of the room to the bathroomRemoved original closet door in hallway and moved it to the master bedroom so that the master had a "his and hers" closet.One of the smaller rooms had a cubby hole next to the closet so you could fit a small desk and chair.

Grey paint and white subway tiles are decisions that are practically already made for you.

Impact fees here can exceed $75k for a new build if it is in an over capacity high school, and not super close to a subway station.