Good luck with those delightful turnkeys out there...

There's an unexpected zombie thread revival and review.  

With that said I just recently had about 12K of capex on a duplex unexpectedly the first year we owned it. 

I’m unsure if the duty owed is my A/C will never unexpectedly break down.

I think bp should have a dedicated fail section, as the best lessons are the unexpected kind!

In my experience, when residents have unexpectedly high heating bills, they gripe about it, their ability to pay rent is reduced(leading to a higher eviction rate,) and they tend to leave the apartment at the end of their lease, dramatically increasing turnover.

Secondly, many condo associations are run poorly and have little in the way of financial reserves, so unexpected repairs, maintenance, or upgrades could translate into surprise special assessments that will gobble up your profits.Flipping off-market properties is a sound strategy, but it requires serious marketing effort.

We had about $3k in unexpected costs + holding costs +  a few changes that upped the renovation total.

Everybody who provided detailed "Rules"  and examples I do value and respect your input and take away that it would clearly be a good idea to plan more for unexpected expenses. 

Flipping is much higher risk short-term because any unexpected costs directly impact your end profit.