I've seen landlords live in blissful ignorance for 5-10 years due to dumb luck, then their world comes crashing down and they lose everything.I have a book, there are some in the BP bookstore, or you can check out one of my personal favorites, Every Landlord's Legal Guide by NOLO.

Double-check the ARV by comparing recent comps in the area to make sure the numbers add up.Run your numbers again with all costs (purchase, rehab, holding, and resale) to confirm the margins are solid.

Definitely worth checking out.

I'm currently reading David Greene's book on BRRRR and was curious about how you all go about planning or visualizing added rooms to potential purchases. 

Yeah make sure to thoroughly conduct background checks on private institutions you lend from.

Lesson learned, check your numbers more thoroughly ahead of time and actually do your research.

One thing I would add here is to check prior landlord references, not just from their current one.

I’d recommend confirming the scope of work and checking with the Tennessee Board for Licensing Contractors to determine if a license is needed for your specific project.

I check to see how the dogs behave with people, ideally also with children, with dogs, and with cats.  

I do not use a property management service to advertise and have always used Zillow to advertise, previous references, housing records, credit checks etc