That shows buyer demand in the marketplace.You could go out and list like gangbusters but if the product you are selling is not desirable in the marketplace then you are on a sinking ship.Have inventory of what buyers want to buy and not want sellers want to sell. 

I'll let that sink in and figure out what you want to do. 

Ultimately, my question is how much a running toilet / leaking kitchen sink could reasonably impact average water bills.

If I update the kitchen (new cabinets, counters, flooring, sink , etc that is probably 15K-20K if you put some sweat equity in you can probably get it down to $10K-12K.

The homes are small, and I believe the asking price will probably be in the neighborhood of 180k for both.The last tenant in one house left the kitchen cabinets, sink and floor in bad shape and so we tore them out.

Deep clean the whole place, pull the fridge out and vacuum the coils, make sure all drains are working and sanitize them - stop and fill each sink with a mix of hot water, a splash of bleach, and several good squirts of Dawn dish soap.

LOL, you'd probably win the weasel award.And I keepsaying this, but it's not sinking in, a seller financed note made from equity can not seek any deficiency amount.

Hi Robert, I used that epoxy before to patch cracked white sink.

"There are only a few of bad people but they move around"Anyway In our case:The tenant move in, did a move in inspection a couple days later starting to send me a message with all the things wrong with the house and said it's unhabitalbe.example: They found ants around the kitchen sink (the house has pest control and we did send the guy to treat the ants)She claim the house is not clean (we hire cleaning lady prior her move in and at the time of inspection it was fine, she is expecting spotless clean)Demand to replace master bedroom door (it was French door with no privacy lock original from builder) so we replace with regular door and add locksFront foyer wood floor has wear and tear but the rest of the house is fine.and a bunch of other things.Sure, her claim is letigimate but is the way she demand and treat that shows you can't be reasonable with this kind of people. and really it's better to cut the losses then having tenant like this.This is a nice home in nice neighborhood but it is build in 90's so you can't expect it to be perfect.

General issue area that I've seen:- Gutters (usually clogged or loose)- Windows (won't open and close)- Door seals (worn out seals, you can see day light)- HVAC check regularly - Vent (dirty)- Under the sink (check for leaks)- Grout (in bathrooms, sometime need to regrout)- Caulk (worn out caulk)- Garbage disposal (rusted, leak or just not working)- Dyer vent (lint could be build up cause fire. the early sign is if clothes not drying properly)- Outdoor trims (usually wood rotten) see if it's need to be paint- bushes or tree too close to the house may need to be remove (roots issue, foundation crack, could be driveway crack too)- wood decking or steps (if you don't seal it, could rotting in faster rate)- smoke detector (old, need replace)- etc (BP member feel free to add)