So what you may "give up" in expenses, you should easily recoup in ROI.

@Mason JeffriesI would say you also have to know what is common for your market, look at a couple listings that are reasonable comps and see if they cover utilities, in my area the expectation is that water, sewer, trash are all covered, if I tried to pass those on, all potential tenants could easily find someone that does cover those.

Kitchen easily flows into the dining room, along with a generous living room and a sun room on the first level.

That's more than fair - AND it puts you in the driver seat, not the tenant.Hope this helps...

TO who is very good in our market can easily make 100k or more a year never leaving their home office. 

This seems like something that can easily be resolved without you getting involved in the middle of their drama.

However, Capital improvements which are a much bigger ticket and done less frequently can easily be much higher.

Our friends indicate that evictions in that jurisdiction are easily taking 30-60 days longer than other areas.

If they are professional, they can explain this quickly and easily.

Hardwoods last forever, are easy to clean and you can easily change your look or add some softness with an area rug if you like.