I am planning on replacing the counters with a nice laminate and doing a tile backsplash.

We have have no desire to be slumlords but rather offer high quality rentals with nice finishes that are durable e.i. ceramic tile, granite ect.

Tile?

You are doing the right thing looking to network, chat with people and start to get to know the lay of the land!

A tile countertop is another idea. 

In my opinion, they have a combined value of approximately $491,500 as most of them I purchased less than 24 months ago and have replaced AC, hot water heaters, and all but one of them, I installed new ceramic tile in all of the units bathrooms and kitchens as well as installed granite countertops in all the units in all the kitchens and bathrooms.

I am looking to spend roughly $3-5k on everything from tile, fans, blinds, door locks, kitchen cabinets, oven, fridge etc.Thanks for your advice!

I have also 'house proofed' ALL my properties by having nothing but ceramic tile floors everywhere.  

You need to understand, that you need to start with "hello" and not just lay down  the tracks from start to finish in one go, before ever saying hello how are you.

Here is the information from the electrical inspection:Service The service was recently replaced with a new 3-meter pack.There was no sign of permitting, and the old undersized SE cable was not replaced, and there was not proper grounding and bonding.It is not clear if the 3-meter pack is PSEG approved.The ZINSCO sub-fed panel is now considered a safety hazard and needs to be replaced.There is not room for the new conduit to rise up the exterior wall to the point of attachment.The steps and newly laid cement must be torn up and replaced for the service to be replaced.There were several instances of unsafe electrical installations in the basement including a live wire that was laying at the foundation wall.Price Easily $5000, could go to $6500 not including cement and step repair2nd Floor Apt.