Fortunately for us, we had other properties whose depreciation helped offset some of those taxes, but you can probably get the point that for our $101,500 investment we netted $42,000 in about 3 months... with everything going pretty much perfect... no unforeseen major malfunctions, and we got our asking price after paying some of the seller’s closing costs.  

There is also risk, because unforeseen expenses are always lurking around the corner.

Even though you are rehabbing, you want to make sure you have enough for unforeseen problems.

It isn't unusual to have a contractor add a square to the overall order to cover any unforeseen waste or problems, but 6 squares is too much.The bricks are even more strange.

Initially, my renovation budget was $45,000 and purchase price was $30,000 ($75,000).The project seemed to be a nightmare and required $10,000 in unforeseen items!

The project seemed to be a nightmare and required $10,000 in unforeseen items!

@Matt Saba, there are usually exceptions to the 1-year requirement if there are unforeseen circumstances.This usually includes a change in job/job transfer.

How will unforeseen expenses be covered?

Leave an allowance (about 8 to 12 percent) for the unforeseen.

Even when property owners have property managers, they still usually have to "asset manage" those property managers, deal with the banks, and many more unforeseen time commitments.