over estimate your construction budget for unforeseen repairs Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

That way you end up with more real estate gaining higher profits with reserves for renovations, maintenance, and to off set unforeseen events.

Or if someone came for a short visit and unforeseen circumstances happened like a job loss, and they didn't want to leave.

That is incredibly attractive even to me and I am in no mood to purchase real estate for the foreseeable future; too many unforeseen, costly and rage-fueling repairs.If I were you, I would consider roofstock.com when it comes time to selling.

Aside from those big items that any home inspector would be able to give you an idea, and unforeseen structural issues, most other repairs inside a residential unit are relatively inexpensive if you are handy and get to the early. 

A simple credit isn't necessarily going to cover unforeseen costs should the county/local inspector decide the work needs "adjustment" in order to close it out.

I believe the only exemption is if there is an unforeseen circumstance.  

@Ruoxi Xie Houses on E5 up to the 500 block are within the zone...600 and East are outside so no new student housing is supposed to be allowed there unless it was already rented as such...the map in the regulation is very low quality so it is hard to tell...the people in the construction department are generally helpful when you have clear specific questions...the best thing is to go there or call them before making an offer...as mentioned before...even inside the zone you'll need to comply with parking requirement so not all houses can be SH.The age of the housing stock there is for sure one of the challenges of that market...all my renovations there went over budget with unforeseen issues...but even then ended up well...as long as you leave enough margin for budget overruns you should be ok...as an engineer you are probably better equipped than most to spot them earlier.

I would suggest being more conservative in your analysis to protect yourself from unforeseen risks. 5% vacancy, 0% prop management fee, 5% maintenance, 5% capex. 3% interest rate on a 30yr loan. 

Since attending graduate school was not foreseen when you purchased the property, its a good chance that it will be considered an unforeseen circumstance and you will be allowed a partial exclusion.