I couldn't operate my business like that and take 2 month vacations to remote areas of the world, and I don't think you need to operate your business like that either.

For the sake of the discussion, I'm thinking about big houses like Century 21, Long & Foster, and Keller/Williams, though I'd be interested to know if the process varies from the big guys to the smaller boutique operations.

The new Fujitsu XLTH Link operate down to -15f.

A large rental property may be operationally profitable, but until you have received 100% of your invested capital back, it's not profit.

My goals are to get a flip going within 3 months and to start building a rental property portfolio with quality management companies handling the day to day operations of them.

Operating Expenses $32,099 !

I'd think they would operate there.

Improving the comfort and efficiency of the building is part of the deal.That said, the bigger players in our area are not quite there yet - most still seem to operate under the mode of "unload utilities on tenants" to improve the bottom line.  

I don't think it matters whether the unit is occupied from a tax point of view so long as you are operating it as a business endeavor (i.e., you're not living in it also).

Commercial tenants can do repairs and improvements, because such can be filed and accounted for in their business operations.