So I said OK to the door as long as he is willing to handle the work and buy the materials.He replied that he'd do the work for free but that I should pay for the materials.

So many gotchas.For instance, SmartCore at Lowes says you gotta have wear through in over 3% of the whole install area for them to even cover under warranty.Stainmaster plank warranty pretty much halfassed-LIMITED LIFETIME RESIDENTIAL WEAR WARRANTYx The manufacturer will supply new material of the same color, design, and grade, if available; if unavailable ordiscontinued, Novalis reserves the right to select and supply similar the manufacturer materials.

These line items should represent costs – material & labor.

Great, attach your material and labor costs per square/ft.  

Hey Adam, Basically you want to take a look at comparable "after repair value" properties in the area to get an idea just how much value the property will gain.The quality of materials and extra work you do, will increase the value, but at a certain point you reach a point of diminishing returns, so you definitely need to find that sweet point

Jordan,Fortunately, my first Chinese investor actually have an EB5 visa and they have a project that did not materialize.

Carry 2-3 sets of everything and make sure it's all made with an easy to clean material (sheets, pillows, wine, toilet paper, water bottles, shower curtains, window curtains, garbage bags, shampoo, coffee, ect). 

Physical labor and materials are not the concern, it is the re-leaseing.

In my area for flooring  it is $3 sf for rip out and install plus materials.

I would suggest using the $ you do receive as rent for materials.