As for the professional service fees, those appear to be in line with what our development side pays for the design fees of a project.

I don't know the laws about a deposit limits...that's why we hired and pay a property manager :) The pm is a licensed Realtor and actually the broker/ owner of a local company and manages several other properties.I've gotten some new info about the situation and no longer  think he may be trying to keep the deposit from us....it really never was collected (there are emails between pm and tenants to this effect).HOWEVER we were never notified about this.  

Look on HomeAway at North Lake in Dexter--there is an interior designer's home listed there that is gorgeous.

Hagerty has a product designed specifically for commercial car storage and will even market our services to their clients as our coastal environment presents a huge risk to existing collections.

To determine the real long term worthiness, consider that you're effectively a tenant to yourself. 

. $50K in cash can go a long way if used effectively!

Hi everyone I'm curious to everyone's opinion of the United States economy/dollar and its relation and effect to the rental market if the federal reserve don't raise rates and eventually collapse the dollar.For those that currently have rental investments, I'm curious to your thoughts and plans for such events, and what do you think will happen to mortgage loans if money is still financed, and renters?

Check out the podcast if you haven't already, there are several great episodes on effective marketing. 

That being said there are plenty of design build firms out there that are capable of that but don't expect all GC's to be ready to design your project for you. 

Nice job with the kitchen design and such.