You have stumbled on to something that is VERY smart, that many couples don't take advantage of. 

Hard to say exactly Leslie If you look below you will see it was smart shopping that helped. the faucets cost not much more than regular because I sought out clearance and odd lot dealers, goose neck faucet 129 water fall faucet 39 from amazonrainfall shower head 39 from amazonI spent 900 for both laundry center functionality wiring and plumbing and retrofitting the preexisting closet to function as a portal for the laundry center plus 400 a piece for each stack washer dryer from scratch and dent supply house.the most money over builder grade was the under cabinet lighting which was relatively cheap about 20.00and perhaps the fancier vanity lighting and living room and kitchen lighting purchased from odd lots 10 bucks a piece retail value 60-100 a piecelaminate over carpet was actually a bit of a savings.so overall maybe 1500 over normal renovating costs for both units.I purchased oops paint so I saved there.worked side by side with the contractor hands on in the dirtto save money and learn at the same time.and countless hours working on the design elements.on one unit I repurposed a track light and hung it as a vanity light it looked awesome and cost me $5.00I bought a round mirror from ikea for 14.00 so no extra money thereput a glass shelf underneath total cost for bathroom remodel not including vanity $ 27.00

One used to work at Freddie Mac and the other was at Palantir Technologies.

I am building up the repair/tax accounts and trying to be smart about each acquisition, cash flow and reserves. 

Do you still dare call yourself smart.. savvy?

Maybe that's easier, like a cheat code, but it's not smart.

They might utilize inadequate technology with you and your tenants. 

Today's market in New York attracts so many wannabe's investors and property scouts that don't really knows what they are doing , approaching homeowners of crappy houses promising them bag full of cash (way above market value) and trying to market the property to new investors that going to loose their pants in the nearly future, NO ONE can convince me that a crappy two family frame house in bushwick NY worth 800k it is just De-Javier of 2007 right before the big crisis. back then i saw some smart *** investors buying houses just like today with their 401k and hard money loans and lost everything in few month.

Are people are smart enough to know by talking over phone or looking at me that I do this for kicksThis was my favorite After several days with little sleep yesterday I met with two couples at a rental The good and the bad First couple the woman started up her mouth coming in the door, at full volume screeching how she didn't like light colored carpet.

That is not a smart idea, yes some areas are in blight but doesn't mean mass amount of homes need to be torn down.