5) When a kitchen needs new appliances, does most GC's include replacing those in their bid?

I also tend to go to local plumbing supply houses (for better quality items) if I am doing plumbing work, Electrical supply house if I have to do electrical work, or lumber yard for better quality products.I will use online or local cabinet supply shops, have never used HD or Lowes for kitchens.

Walking into the basement of a home I bought at foreclosure auction and seeing mold on the OSB lined walls and on the ceiling tiles - my property manager wouldn't even walk into the basement.Then after having the mold abated...getting a call from the property manager telling me about the basement walls bowing inward because of hydrostatic pressure that we didn't see because of the wall framing and OSB walls covering it...and talking to a contractor that estimated $15k in repairs (even though he outright stated his company didn't do that sort of thing)...then having a wall outlet issue in the kitchen upstairs, and having an electrician tell me he needed to re-wire the whole basement because the copper wire had been cut up.Mold Abatement was $7,900Hydrostatic cracks were sealed and painted over (no issues at all)Re-wiring the basement $4,000Much more reasonable than I anticipated.  

There is a pretty steep drop between the living room floor (luxury vinyl) and the kitchen tile.

-Opening up a wall in the kitchen to turn a pantry into a nook for the fridge.

The house itself is solid,  and needs upgrades to the kitchen and two bathrooms,  which we expected. 

Partial kitchen, one bathroom gut, one partial bathroom, full bed and living cosmetics, and light exterior work..."

To get up to my current wages & distributions running a full-time, real-estate business, it would take me a decade.

Space savings, does not have to run as much to keep water hot while not in use, so there is some gas / electric savings and they tend to last a little longer than hot water heaters. they are a little more in cost to install. i do not have any in my rental properties but have one in my personal home and i like them. make sure it is sized for the amount of bathrooms and kitchen it is feeding. mine feeds 3 bathrooms and a kitchen and does just fine - brand is Takagi. 

This time really adds up.