I am a licensed master electrician, I work for a contractor (great pay, benefits, work truck, etc..) but also own a fully licensed and insured electrical contracting company I basically have just set up (been open 3 years) but no time to do anything with because I am constantly working on both houses.  

My first SFR will be listed this next week, doing house cleaning this week. 

(Your property may need additional steps... so please don't take this a literal "how-to".)Keep in-mind that even if there are no cracks you need to make sure the surface is very smooth and clean before laying down vinyl.  

I m not sure why the current owner has them rented lower, but the area and condition of the units can support $825 with tenants paying for electric only.

I do not wish to keep the tenants in place because I have already learned from the seller that they don't pay on time and when I viewed the house it was clear that they were not clean folks.

Electricity is split out by tenant, but domestic water is not.

And if he does not clean up, give him a 30 notice to vacate.

The second contractor , also started well and assured me that he had a license and since I was in a hurry to continue and complete the project I agreed without checking his license, it turned out that he had no license , which is okay , but do not lie,that might have explained the poor quality finishes and lack of electrical knowledge.

Work to clean up credit if needed and then pay down the amounts on the highest cards.

The remaining unit needed a total rehab (sands ripping out the walls, plumbing and electric replacement).When I put it under contract, the units were not renting out to students, it was quasi section 8/lower income.