The tenant asked if he could paint the backyard patio and driveway (we have a rear entrance for cars from the alley).

I also suspect home prices would initially rise on the first 1-1.5% of cuts, but ultimately fall once we get to the 3-4% range as large  pre-pandemic supply comes back online, compounded by boomer land lords selling realizing the top of the market is in the rear view mirror (at least for them).If you eventually get squeezed on lower rents and valuations as the market normalizes, the ability to BRRR your pandemic era deals will be limited, so how do avoid trapping capital in the deals you already own from this environment? 

Now in most cases the same renovation will require an engineer report, and full architectural drawings….I recently had to obtain structural drawings and complete special inspections for a rear trex deck….Just a few examples of costs someone will incur flipping a house in Philly.

.- People will fight to give everything they have to keep their primary residence, but if their second or vacation home becomes a pain in the rear, they’ll sell.

Now the minimum standards your basement has to hit for it to be able to count as assessed sqft not estimated is a height of 7 ft, a point of egress (bilco doors) and a window usually in the rear, It's one of those things where if your going to go through the process of digging out a basement you might as well go for it and dig it deeper then 7 and closer to 8 ft so you actually stand out compared to the competition.Now the other side of this coin which I would suggest is if you're willing to spend 40-50k on a basement dig, consider adding a 3rd story addition if your a 2 story (think master suite, walk in closet, master bath) or an addition off the back and add a roof deck if your a 3 story (either master suite or just additional bedroom).

Sending eviction notices should be a systematic process to make pain in the rear tenants shape up in a hurry. 

Every day for weeksI'm not recommending this for anyone, but I would stop at obviously abandoned properties that had potential and wander around, looking in windows and sometimes going into the house - through an 'unlocked' rear door of course :-)Sometimes the windows are boarded up and you cannot get a view of the inside....then it's just your knowledge and your gut once again.Go to the County and look up the owner....send them a nice letter....even make a dollar offer if you feel so inclined. 1 in 10 might respond.This is the way to find deals with a lot of equity potential IMHO. 

But you can’t live in the rear view mirror.

@Nick Benedick like the concept live below your means and cover your living expenses with RE. Are

In my market, virtually the only ones to lose money on RE are those that were forced to sell.