They belong to the tenants and are held in trust for the faithful performance of the lease.

Purchase price: $209,000 Cash invested: $65,000 Beautiful .25 acres country feel home private feel.

When the tenant doesn't perform, I issue the 5 day notice.

They should also be performing a thorough move-out inspection and even a mid lease inspection so you can see the condition of your property.

But saying you decide to go forward and rent it to him at market value and no reduction in labor cost, make sure your lease is absolutely clear that he is not allowed to perform any work without your written consent and if he does perform work without your consent, he will not be compensated.

From my perspective, with most of my rents being sub-$1K in C-class, @Scott M. and @Joe Splitrock have explained this beautifully.

You can do laminate / Formica counter tops inexpensively and there are beautiful patterns - some look like marble or granite.

That's the beauty of real estate. 

Watch the show "Dirty Jobs" and you will see many people perform uglier jobs than you, without ever complaining.  

We were then able to find a private investor to put up 90K and we put up the rest of the money to perform the rehab.