I would recommend including the utilities in the rent so you have control, or least water/electrical, since students are notorious for skipping town on the last bills which then get added to your tax bill.  

They are notorious for drastic price drops and good wholesalers either have a program built by someone that scrapes the hud site or they have a well maintained spreadsheet keeping track of properties.I wholesaled a property earlier this year that had an asking price of $56k for 120+ days which was then dropped to $9,900.

Without experience in this field, you can't be sure that the numbers you were given are accurate (real estate agents are notorious for padding the numbers), so it could also put a financial strain on you.  

Banks are notoriously stubborn.

Texas homes notorious for having a ton of foundation issues and we are the #1 state for foundation repair.

Insurance is notorious for "expense creep".

It's definitely possible to find success investing from abroad, and a lot of people have certainly found success in doing so, especially my family and friends in Hong Kong (with housing prices there notoriously unaffordable).

A good agent easily pays for their fee, even in a hot market because flippers notoriously shoot themselves in the foot during FSBO negotiations.

Contractors are notoriously shady and construction is probably the most unprofessional industry in our country.

We're exploring adding garden units, but it's less than likely due to the fact the city (Chicago) is notoriously difficult on these matters.