Even the Home Depot tile classes on Saturdays......

haha.For instance, my tile guy talked me through subcontracting my kitchen and bathroom renovations by myself. 

The property has a small kitchen 212 sqft, I want to redo the tile floor, and new cabinets, counters, sink, and appliances.

Does the world class carpenter/ welder/ tile guy/ architect etc really sink like a stone when the slow transition to an operating economy comes?

The tile has to be redone regardless. 

Even in low end rentals, we only recommend 100% complete ceramic tile walk-in showers or cast iron/porcelain tubs with ceramic tile surrounds, and, depending on the property and the Owner preference, either a copper or membrane actual shower pan.

i dont want to do fake hard wood in bedrooms and real hardwood in the living room. tile isnt realistic in bedrooms in Nebraska.

The bathroom you see pictured below was done with wall tile that was $1.25 sq ft and the mosaic insert tile was $2 a sheet.  

Glass tile would look great.

The bigger guys do some hedging and have arrangements with the gas suppliers that can mitigate some risk.