A few years back, when the SREC market was really hot, many apartment buildings were renting their roof tops to solar companies and completing a power purchase agreement with the company.

Unless you are in a hot market, don't be afraid to offer less.You'll often here experts say things like "if they weren't insulted, you offered too much".

I think unless you are in an incredibly hot market offering a home for lower then the competition this many hurdles will lead to longer vacancy.I am not opposed to hurdles to screen out the unmotivated ones but this is a large amount of hoops that will definitely lead to decreased demand.It is a trade off.Your life is easier & you have much more timeButYour rentals will be empty longer.

The major issue is there is oil heating system which is used to heat the building and provide hot water.

I told him as a mild inconvenience I'll drop his rent to 500 (mistake number 1 as it was nothing in the contract about if/ when someone else moves in) He text me later saying he doesn't think 500 is sufficient as that is another person in the space, using hot water, in the living room, using W/D etc (which the living room I furnished and all of that I pay for).

I know in hot markets you might get a way with it but many agents won't show clients houses for sale by owner!

If the rental market is hot you may get 1 or 2 year leases. 

I can always go back to a day job, but the market is hot and investing in myself now just seemed like the right thing to do.

We ended up spending about 20k for the new roof, furnace, hot water heater, electric service, second floor everything, paint, retaining wall (more on that in another post), plumbing, stove, and I think that's it.

I live in Hot Springs, Arkansas, moved here 2 years ago from WA.