Check out www.securityproductsnow.com this website has some alternatives for self-defense items...

Immerse yourself with the different references materials Brandon itemized  above.

Conventional financing guidelines are vague when an appraiser has to call the various items you mention. 

I used to be sought out for restaurant consultation work but did not want to do all that traveling plus I like real estate the best.Another item to watch carefully is this minimum wage hike thing.

So, though I “missed” out on the gains in real estate, I was able to capture quite a bit in index funds (I dabbled in individual stocks as well, but that is a story for another site).From there, I moved on to Dayton, Ohio to pursue and Master's degree on the military's dime. 

You cant report some income/expense on schedule E and carve out the interest expense from the line of credit and call it an investment activity and an itemized deduction on schedule A.

Expenses are an income statement item, repairs go to the assets of the balance sheet and capitalized.

I have sold many condos and have only had clients have issues with making interior changes if the change would negatively impact a neighbor, cause noise at inconvenient times or in the Pearl where there are can be a lot of restrictions on interior changes as they can cause structural issues (for example some buildings don't allow you to hang heavy items with maully bolts because of building envelope issues).  

Is it fair to say that this strategy is a great way to capture excellent cash flow spreads for rentals vs traditional purchase methods? 

I broke your question into the following items and will address each one as best as I can.Should you manage your own properties?