Somebody mentioned on another thread and I loved their examples: "promptly" is general, "within 24 hours" is specific.If that's not your style, then consider hiring a new manager.  

You are generally looking for solid, functional, inexpensive materials.

@Ashley DavisPermit responsibility can be outlined in the actual contract you signed with the general contractor and they will charge the cost of any permits required. 

Unfortunately, people generally are terrible multitaskers.

Everything else is generally cosmetic.  

I have an LLC (Single member self managed) I just started for general contracting/ renovations repairs for customers. 

Don't even consider it.Second if it is viable you must keep in mind that tenants will abuse and generally beat the hell out of a property.

His idea is that they will tend to pay retail price, rather than selling to other investors who are looking for the killer deal.Has this been the general experience of others who have sold duplexes?

Stretching above your MAO for any reason is generally a really bad idea barring extenuating circumstances.You are of course going to need to know your ARV in order to calculate your MAO.

Generally I use 50bps (0.005) of purchase price as a general rule of thumb for annual premium.