The thing I noticed was that the city regulations on rental property / landlords seemed to be more in tune with a big metropolis than a town in the middle of corn fields - in other words, more extensive than you would expect. 

Any dirt and grit is simply pushed down into the carpet and ends up cutting the fibers over time.

If insulation grants are available, you may find it cheaper to tear off the siding, insulate and re-side with something from vinyl siding to shakes or fiber-cement boards.

Understand this is your tenant base Best advise I know for screening is You got to pick through the $)$t to get to the corn !

Not in Detroit, not in Kansas, not in Wrangler pants wearing, 30 year old truck driving, corn eatin', the-biggest-building-in town-is-a-silo middle America, but right here in sunny, rapidly appreciating southern California.

If not, question how one can improve on them, without changing "the fiber of the deal"?

Not every issue is about legal, or not legal... in fact the issues that shape our character, that fiber people stand on and say- he / she is that 'kind' or 'type' of person... they have nothing to do with laws- they have everything to do with where we operate inside of the laws.

Land value has spiked recently, due to larger demand for corn.

v=96x2tO9Xuxw Link to 3M window security film products http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Window_Film/Solutions/Markets-Products/Residential/Safety-Security_Window_Films/ Link to Dow Corning structural sealant http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KZYJ8E/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1/183-2382486-2564242?

Our roofer gets a flat pricing discount on all his shingles, like $58 per square for architectural Owens Corning Duration (really cheap price).