Most of the improvements were through the remodeling company I worked for already.

In this case, the purchase price was 100k, the sale price was 137k, and total closing fees, all said and done, were roughly 10k, which I would take to mean a capital gains hit of 15% on 27k, (since my son and his wife paid for all upgrades/updates to the home, I realize I won't be able to deduct these as capital improvements). 

I would check your lease to make sure you have a similar clause.I wouldn't be to worried about the tenant denying entry to the property since you will be improving it and they will directly benefit from that improvement.

From 2014 -2016 another shift started to occur as technology began to improve, crowdfunding became more mainstream, and Fintech started to make an appearance.

Is there any other books or course work that you can recommend that I can act on now, to improve my knowledge in this field?

Not surprisingly the girls did not do nearly as well financially as the boys, perhaps in part of being prepared for a different life, and having fewer means to advance in areas where working in the dangerous oil field gave you a chance to improve your lot. 

Perhaps its worth both bumping up capex and budgeting for future improvements.

There are ways I can improve my properties.

@Lucas Carl ah yes - you're hitting that magical point in running a business where you're too swamped to invest in improving the processes, yet can't grow any further until you do 😱Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet when you're at this point.

Most home improvements don't add a lot more value than what it costs to do them.