Obviously, if you have a really good PM you can mitigate some of that. 

Most, but not all these bad outcomes can be mitigated with better due diligence.

Those are good strategies that will give you some leverage and potentially help you strike a better than average deal.At some point, you may want to consider purchasing rent default insurance to mitigate costs associated with lost rent and legal fees.Good luck!

Obviously it is code to have the ability to escape both bedrooms in the event of fire, but could this be mitigated by a sprinkler system or is this effectively a 6 unit apartment building?

It will probably take me that long to mitigate the cigarette smell regardless.

I know mistakes are almost inevitable when first starting out, but I'm doing my best to mitigate them.

While there is some risk as identified above, the estoppels are key for mitigating that.

If so, I would very strongly consider the merit of taking on $300k in debt in order to achieve this level of earning potential and perhaps explore cheaper ways of attaining this education.Rather than thinking about how you can mitigate a poor financial decision through real estate, I respectfully suggest that perhaps it's better to not make the poor financial decision in the first place.  

You might also want to explore rent default insurance to help mitigate your lost rental income and eviction costs should you find yourself in a similar situation. 

Second, a "gift letter" stating that both parties acknowledge the full amount in question is, in fact, a gift that need not be repaid for any reason will tend to help mitigate some pestering from underwriting.Best of luck!