I've always had a passion for re decorating, rehabbing, wood working, DIYs etc.

I had studios,, I put in Great lease terms,, I did month to month,, with a term that if they stayed less than 6 months a $300.00 fee would be charged against the security  deposit for redecorating fee, rent rate gauranteed to stay the same for 12 months,,.. most tenants sayed 2 to 3 years at a time

Occupancy is limited to 1 person.I really think 3 times the rent is high,, 2.5 might be better range for studio.Put down great lease terms,, go month to month,, with a security deposit equal to 1 months rent and if they stay there less than 6 months you keep a 250.00 redecorating fee, and put that in term of lease.  

Slight redecorating, paint, replacing dated things Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I would probably add an outdoor kitchen area, game barn, game room/theater in the house, in addition to slowly redecorating and upgrading bathrooms to be more spa like.  

It really helped us when we redecorated all our properties and added hot tubs this year. 

Last year, we had the house completely repainted, inside and outside, We had about half the siding on the house, which was rotten, replaced, redid the front porch, we replaced double exterior doors, got a lot of new furniture, redecorated all the walls, got a few new TV's, replaced an oven, blew insulation, had service work on the plumbing and the heat and air, and a lot of other things I can't even remember at the moment.

@John RinggoldI retain 50% of the deposit for redecorating expenses for the last 11 years.

Many of the properties in the area come fully furnished but you're likely still going to need to do some redecorating.

A new, expensive apartment in a hip area may be one you want to re-decorate  interiors frequently to keep it fresh, while an older property in workforce housing is more focused on clean and functional over style.