And finally things like upgrading the windows, doing very detailed decoration work, having a very lush, high-maintenance yard, etc., is not only going to most likely do nothing for your value overall, it's going to use up a lot of money in your budget unnecessarily.

With a lush native garden that is low maintenance and promotes wildlife.

Can you not accomplish the same thing with a tapestry or grill, and some words in a lease?

It is a 4 bed, 3 bath house with a guest house in the mountains overlooking the lush valley below.

Also on you tube Michael Lush calls it replacing your mortgage.

You can also find a guy named Michael Lush on youtube and he calls the method, "replacing your mortgage".  

If you consider a "soft" brand (Marriott has the "Autograph Collection", Hilton has "Curio" and 'Tapestry", Hyatt has "Unbound", and there are others), you may find more flexibility overall.On to your concern about being stuck with one company. 

But, for many of the renters who had thought they had struck gold with lovely homes and lush yards, things didn’t pan out that way.

For $150k, engineered flooring would be considered higher end in my opinion.May I ask why you just don't put down some nice lush (and warm) carpet?

I remember during my college days we had tapestry over the entire ceiling, area rugs, dressers up against the wall, book shelves and milk crates of records and books, it's a real pain to do a thorough inspection.