An expensive contractor is often cheaper than a cheap contractor.

If I go to court and file the unlawful detainer, pay the fees due (not cheap in CA), and serve the tenant and then he decides to pay his rent - will I be able to continue the eviction, or do I have to stop, lose the fees I paid and do it all over again next month?

It's more expensive than the cheap $80 toilets with a flapper, but the toilet claims to save up to $90/year on the water bill.

Buy cheap, buy many, fix them up, and pay them off. 

.$3 per transaction to me is cheap, given I get almost immediate customer support.

Usually get these cheap.

I keep a cheap receipt book in the truck if someone gives me cash for something like a deposit.  

In Dallas, substantial growth has moved 25 miles north even though cheap accessible land is just south and east.  

When we were paying cash for grad school we rented a CHEAP A$$ house and lived with another couple.

not as cheap as other areas,  but great area.