Is there a cap on how much you can increase the rent? 

After doing much googling, I think I have decided to just create new treads from pine boards and nail and glue them over the existing tread.

Florida doesn't have a cap on the equity that you have in your home with respect to asset protection, so putting money into your homestead makes sense for those people to protect their money from creditors.

Ok, don't bludgeon yourself in the head with a hammer, use it to hit nails.

Louis nailed it.

This doesn't bode well for the properties I already own here, but I'm looking forward to buying properties at double-digit cap rates again like 4-5 years ago as most of my competition goes to play in a sandbox in another state.Overall, the NYS risk and pain-in-the-*** factor will become baked in to the returns here in NYS, so you need to ask yourself if you'd prefer to invest in TX where you can do whatever you want as a landlord but get a 5-cap on a duplex and have to outbid 20 others, or buy in Schenectady where you can get a 12-cap in a nice neighborhood but have to deal with a lot of paperwork and BS. 

$15.00 per closetLight fixtures – glass cleaned and bulbs replaced $15.00 per fixture /$1.00 per bulbCeiling fan, blades- clean top & bottom, motor housing dust free $30.00 -$50.00Vacuum – per room (carpet is shampooed by management after move out at no charge) $15.00Carpet- burns, stains, soil as per estimate / replacementBaseboards – dust, wipe off, vacuum per room $15.00 per roomA/C vent cover – vacuum, dust $15.00Windows – Glass, tracks, clean and dust free $20.00 per windowTo remove window pane, slide pane to center of track- grasp each side, gently lift up and pull forward to remove, clean, replace in correct order.Window- Glass replacement $35.00 per windowScreens replacement- $25.00 per window -$40.00 per patio door $25.00- $40.00Mini-blinds replacement $20.00 per windowPatio door – Glass, clean both sides, track vacuumed, wiped clean $35.00Patio blind replacement $50.00 per windowOutdoor patio globe- clean $15.00Sweep off patio and railings $15.00Bathroom exhausts fan/vent cover, clean, dust free $15.00Bathtub, clean tub and tile surround $25.00 – $60.00Bath sink, vanity/countertop, clean $20.00Bath – medicine cabinet, clean inside, mirrors, light guard $20.00 minBathroom floor & wall tile – wash, clean tile $20.00 minTowel bar replacement $18.00 minToilet tissue spindle replacement $5.00Toilet – clean inside bowl and outside $20.00 minToilet seat replacement $20.00Kitchen cabinets – wipe off grease; remove shelf paper, empty out $20.00 minKitchen-sink, countertop, wipe off, clean garbage disposal ring $20.00 minDishwasher – clean, remove any food particles from inside $20.00 min Vent hood – wipe off grease, clean filter, clean light guard, top/underside $20.00 minStove/ Oven- wipe off exterior, clean under drip pans, clean oven/racks $25.00 min to $125.00Drip pans – clean (replacement cost is $7.50 each) $30.00 maxBroiler pan replacement $20.00Refrigerator/ Freezer-wash off exterior, top, seals, inside, crispers $20.00 min to $75.00Walls / Woodwork – remove nails, screws $15.00 minWallpaper boarders-removal per room $50.00 minNicotine – stained walls/ woodwork that require cleaning (see below explanation) $25.00 per hour min.The cost to prep the unit for painting requires the walls and woodwork to be washed clean from the smoke odor/ and nicotine stained damage.GaragesGarages should be swept clean and all debris removed.

Of course two doors and one set of closing costs is worth something, but I think it's sad when I see investors pass on great 8% cap rate single family homes all year, just to take a 7% cap on a duplex in worse condition OR to hesitate when the duplex finally does become available and then they've delayed investing goals for a year. 

A 7% cap on the actual tax paid, to me, would likely be more reasonable; just IMHO.

Not knowing or misrepresenting the law is a death nail for me.