Overall, we had to put on a new roof, extensive landscaping, "60 years of growth never cut", new decking, new fencing, completely remodeled kitchen, updated fixtures and lighting, paint, electrical upgrades, and drywall repairs. 

Good luck and keep us updated on your CPA search and your RE journey. 

You can get to the AC updates later.

Your goal should be one that needs updating, but not repair. 

The agent will normally update the MLS with the sales info as it's a requirement for being a member of HAR and having MLS access.   

At that point the property rental income would be used 100% to pay its own expenses-- mortgage, insurance, updates, etc.My question is, I know that I need to include within the budget for improvements the labor that I'm going to have to pay out to my employees, but I'm having a disconnect with justifying paying myself in this same way.

., buy an asset that’s already stabilized, and hold it for a number of years).A great example of a value-add multifamily deal is an apartment community whose units haven’t been updated in ten years.

It was in pretty good shape overall for its age having had various updates through the years,  but in a perfect world it was going to need work to correct awful floor plan (made by combining two small main floor units into a larger one) and the roof was going to need replacing in 5 years,  and it needed some other upgrades and modernizing if I was going to keep it longer.   

UPDATE 9.21.21    So Duke energy owns the pole and I had them send out a technician yesterday who called me yesterday evening from the site.

Unless you want to spend a lot of money upfront to replace/ update, then you’re going to have higher maintenance costs.