Read up on fair housing guidelines and know how they effect your screening process and criteria.

You're effectively looking at how "efficient" your rental is performing with respect to rent charged. 

I know it sounds ridiculous because you live in the same house, and it doesn't sound cost effective.

Additionally, the effects won't be felt uniformly across markets.

If the mortgage was "written off" he should have received some documentation from this mortgage company to that effect.

I replaced an entire roof on a 1400 sq ft home in High Point for $5k, including gutters, and that may have been high because I needed it done quickly for insurance coverage to go into effect.

If you can buy for less than $1,700/mo PITI then sell CA and buy in HI.As for refi'ing, how will that effect your monthly cashflow on CA property? 

The guy paid you early by accident.....he apparently needs that $$ for something else.I would "refund" the $$ minus any fees you might incur to do so......The rest of the lease stays in effect as is....due dates, late fees etc...... nothing changes....if he pays on the 6th, he pays the late fee...

Can you minimize the effect of the crash so your property will not go underwater like what happened in 2008?

My view is if the back boxes are in good shape its quicker and cost effective to just cabinet reface but they feel its better to just always replace or redo cabinets in the kitchens .