He moved walls to open the layout downstairs (it's a split level), added 2 bedrooms to the house to increase income potential, painted almost every room in the home (they had a crazy green color), as well as worked on the outside of the home to increase the overall value and re did the kitchen downstairs.

You can get it on amazon, dilute it with water in a pump sprayer and spray the baseboards on exterior walls, and spray around the outside walls on the house and you should be good to go.

I have been researching two new markets outside of my local market, Market A and Market B, for long-term buy and holds.

. §1.1031(k)-1(c)(1) (last sentence) (property that is acquired before the end of the exchange period is deemed to be identified).Just to make sure that I had not lost my mind during the night, I quickly reached out to verify this with our two outside tax attorneys and both agreed. 

My name is Ryan & I live in Rockville, MD just outside of DC.

@Reggie ReardenI think what you are asking is outside the scope of standard maintenance for a tenant, unless it was specifically communicated and demonstrated to them before they occupied the home. 

I'm finally getting around to learning about REITs.  I've come to learn that the primary (only?) revenue stream for REITs is generated by rents paid out to their tenants.  What about the other half of the equation, th...

So, initially the goal was simply to earn returns outside of Wall Street.

Outside of setting up systems for finding great deals, my main intent with this post was to capture great suggestions such as the ones you all have provided so when the time comes that I call the realtor to view a property on my behalf, they know I'm a serious client.

D.C. is quickly becoming a premium market so either you look outside of D.C. or change your approach to be successful in the current market.