I installed a/c in both units, painted, and replaced fixtures (light switches, electical outlets with nice white ones, doorknobs with nice steel ones).  

They look better and never need to be painted.  

that a fair rate most drywall are paint is billed out 25 to 35 with a 4 hour min plus 15% mark up on material is normal

I would either pull down the paneling and drywall correctly or just paint the paneling to lighten up the space.

The brushed nickel light fixtures always accompany our cool color schemes, and the Martha Stewart Kitchen cabinet paint was a nice touch to the cool scheme.

Paint cabinets, new handles/pulls. 

I like beige or off whites too, you can buy in bulk and it lasts in a 20 gallon buckets and is cheaper in bulk from your paint supplier.

I probably could have taken the walls out, fixed the surrounding area (floor, drywall, etc.) and painted and then claimed the house came like that when I bought it.

I would plan to do gutters, dryloc paint on the interior brick, and a dehumidifier at a minimum.

Here are some brands that come off the same manufacturing lines — just different paint, labels, and marketing:• Lennox, Armstrong and Concord• Trane and American Standard• Carrier, Payne, Bryant and Tempstar• York, Lux and Coleman• Goodman and AmanaAnd, most of the components that make up these brands’ products are made by even fewer companies: Emerson, Johnson Controls and Honeywell.