If you're aiming for really detailed budget-vs-actual tracking for individual repair categories, breaking down receipts can be extremely tedious.For example, if you buy toilets, doors, vanities, trim, and paint all on one Home Depot receipt, those five items technically need to be categorized separately (plumbing, doors, bathrooms, woodwork, interior painting).

His wife wanted a new (new to her and very modest) car to replace a 20 year old VW and she was hemming and hawing about it until my wife sat her down and said just buy it and enjoy life a little, you might be dead next year and you can't take it with you.

Yes, looks very realistic to plan for 0% appreciation for few years and then have modest expectations. 

I plan to redo bathroom, kitchen, refinish floors, paint, and maybe replace baseboards and trim.

That said these are not remodel situations just paint and flooring repairs for the most part.

Same with flooring/paint - stuff where the color/material matters essentially. 

Hello BP community,

I'm going to be operating out of the Buffalo New York and western NY area. Frankly I've been pushing money at my student loans until I wised up, and now I'm more moderate with that, which means I ...

I am looking to renovate the unit; new flooring, painting the interior of the unit and a refresh / remodel of the kitchen and bathroom.I obviously would like to minimize my cost whilst at the same time maximize the ROI from these updates.

Best thing to do is to pull up the carpet or whatever is there and paint the subfloor.  

We have updated kitchens, remodeled bathrooms, painted, flooring- it’s a great house on a safe block near a park and shopping/restaurants in Dundalk, MD  Is this all a normal part of renting a property or do I need to be more aggressive with my marketing or following up on the screeners?