New roof, carpet paint, flooring, windows, bathroom update, kitchen and a ton of cleaning and yard crap hull. 

2.5tons should run 1300sqft fine. 2 tons may be on the limit. 4k sounds like a whole new a/c system.The other thing is how new are the windows.

All the Doors and windows also need replacing in my opinion.  

I am familiar with those two areas because I am from Texas (Houston), and I lived in Charlotte, NC for 5 years while I went to college.FYI...throw the 1% rule out the window when looking for properties in LA..."

Also on the "rule of thumbs", toss those out the window.

We'd be very happy just to break even.We had a bunch of initial expenses - lead testing revealed we had to replace all the windows and the oil furnace died so we are in the process of upgrading it to natural gas.

Windows, balcony, and main entrance are a mess!

I keep an A-Z  list of about 50 vendors, from accountant to window washer.

As someone in the process of setting up a vacation rental, I'm trying to understand how net operating loss works with respect to whether or not the property is considered a "home".Let's say I put $15K into the house replacing the windows with lead paint in them in order to get the house ready to rent.

I've used window world on 3 homes this year and have been impressed.