They belong to the tenants and are held in trust for the faithful performance of the lease.

When the tenant doesn't perform, I issue the 5 day notice.

They should also be performing a thorough move-out inspection and even a mid lease inspection so you can see the condition of your property.

But saying you decide to go forward and rent it to him at market value and no reduction in labor cost, make sure your lease is absolutely clear that he is not allowed to perform any work without your written consent and if he does perform work without your consent, he will not be compensated.

I, on the other hand, have a 60x36 tiled shower with a custom niche, a Kohler Archer base (K-9397), Kohler Levity shower door (K-706165), and a Grohe Euphoria shower system(26128002)  in my permanent residence. 

We were then able to find a private investor to put up 90K and we put up the rest of the money to perform the rehab.

I only have enough reserves for 97 conventional or FHA downpayment.

I would recommend that you perform research analysis in your market area. $90k is a good deal if all houses in the area is selling for more than $140k.

I would rather be consistently profitable with solid performers in my portfolio than shooting for that home run. 

I only had to put 7k into it.I also bought a foreclosure for 60k which at the time was worth 181k.