Kyle it's an easy decision.It's like a custom house where you have to find that ONE buyer to love it versus a neutral house that appeals to the masses.If it's a deep blue it's worth it to buy some primer first so you don't have to put on 4 coats of paint to cover it.To paint the kitchen you might have 50 to 60 bucks in materials if you do yourself.You will get that back alone with the first months rent payment.My experience is tenants will take an off color but then they want a discount for it.My apartments are 1,200 sq ft units.I get 5 gallons of Home Depot paint for 53.00.

One thing that comes to mind--what if there's an energy crunch in the future that drives up utilities costs and larger houses become less desirable?

They require that you fax the deed, utility bills, etc. to them to prove that you are a landlord, but they don't require that an inspector come out to your house to see if the credit reports are in a locked room, like some other services do.

As an experienced DIY'er, with at least SOME cash, you might well be able to utilize a hard money lender to get into that 70k property in a better area of town.

Longevity and utilization are important as mentioned above.

Mortgage+taxes+PMI is $2000 and Maintenance+utilities is $650.

More and more, I am coming across homes that have all their utilities off, how are you guys handling inspections during due diligence if the utilities are off?

A customer that complains.

Some add a laundry room for additional income, but I have found the income versus the utility outlay does not always balance out.

I would not provide utilities.