My tenants are refinery contractors (welders, pipefitters, boilermakers, etc.) and are going to be here to work 12 hour shifts, eat, shower, do laundry, sleep, repeat for about 3 months.

I can see a month to close, then however long it takes for the permit eating up a lot of the 90 day period to get everything done. 

Its been eating me up that I have these rentals with perfect roofs for solar and not doing anything with them considering climate change. 

Roofing, plumbing & electrical systems, HVAC and foundation are usually your biggest "eat it" expenses that may arise in a rental property - meaning most everything else can (if necessary) be DIY or have less expensive alternatives.

If you discriminate against any protected class here, the housing court will eat you alive. 

@Dean Letfus I wouldn't want a secondhand fridge from anyone who eats Marmite either!! 

My guess is a lot of SFH investors are not being honest with their maintenance/CapEx outlay and are eating their golden gooses one bite at a time.

Does it make sense to eat the higher cost/rate and go this route (will update this thread once I know the exact numbers)?

Having said that, I love to eat what I kill so I do invest what and when I can, but that investment has nothing to do with "skin in the game" or "alignment of interest." 

If the inspector doesn’t find anything - the tenant will eat the cost of that inspection.