So with the full fee we counter offered and that busted the buyers budget so they could not get the really cool upgrades the wife wanted..

You may even consider doing some budgeting and see if a smaller house or even (dare I say it?)

I have to budget for other expenses (repairs, maintenance, etc.) out of pocket.We are coming from Seattle which is a more expensive market and we have the cash to be able to do this, but I hear your pain - when you are starting out, that might not be a good idea.  

Maybe I need to budget more for tenant default, vacancy, maintenance, or something else. 

Now it’s probably the Midwest,But my the time you get to the Midwest and establish a footprint and “street credibility” with the brokers and sellers another market may be strong.If you are going to invest out of area, you will need to spend “face to face” “boots on the ground time” there.

These are places you would spend your vacation dollars with your family to go have a good time for a week or longer.

Classes B and C are okay, although we will spend more time analyzing a Class C.

If your fee is $150k I would expect a very healthy budget to be spent to marketing and advertising this property all over the place.  

You might budget for them to last 20,000 miles, but if you rotate them and avoid damaging them they might last 30,000 miles.

On top of your general inspection, this will be the best few hundred dollars you will spend when buying your home....