If you are using hard money you need to budget for the points and fees as well as traditional third party closing fees.Repairs: The money it is going to take you to rehab the property plus an extra 10% of estimated repair costs to account for unexpected repairs.Holdings Costs: Here is where a lot of investors get tripped up.

I've been able to cover my mortgage+HOA, but my margins are pretty thin to none due to the unexpected project cost.

We did have some unexpected items.  

This was a $60k profit at these numbers even though he blew through an unexpected $40k extra.

Sure, you can classify yourself as a real estate professional or setup a property management component and pay yourself a salary that could convert that passive income to earned income, but it generally does not make sound financial sense to do so.The gig work could potentially support a Solo 401k.  

That way, I can at least afford on my own to cover the mortgage payment if the property is vacant for an unexpectedly long time.

Will the rent cover all your costs (mortgage, taxes, insurance) plus extra for unexpected things (repairs, vacancies).You will probably get a lot of different answers on here because there are so many different types of investors.

If you are using hard money you need to budget for the points and fees as well as traditional third party closing fees.Repairs: The money it is going to take you to rehab the property plus an extra 10% of estimated repair costs to account for unexpected repairs.Holdings Costs: Here is where a lot of investors get tripped up.

That's right-that unexpected turn in leverage.

That is speculating and not investing.Numbers work going in and the rest is icing on the cake if it happens and if not you hit your goals anyway.It seems the primary reason you are buying is for a home for the family to live in so the investment portion seems like a much less important detail than the emotional component from what you have said so far.Maybe just view this property as a happy family home purchase and then if you like the area once you live there look around for properties where you buy just off of investment from the additional cash flow with the low mortgage payment.