Cost Overruns: After the final payment, the contractor claimed there were additional costs of $60K.

Here are a couple of methods of pipe replacement that I am aware of you might be interested in looking at.https://www.youtube.com/watch?

I was pleased with how the situation was handled and that you refunded the technology package payment.

As mentioned elsewhere, breakeven on cash flow is not the same as break even for taxes.Let's make some assumptions:Rental income = $1000Mortgage payment = $400 - but $300 is interest and $100 is principalOther expenses (repairs, advertising, utilities, etc) = $600Depreciation = $250The above scenario creates a break even from a cash flow perspective, however the tax scenario looks like this:Rental income minus the mortgage interest (principal is not deductible) minus the other expenses minus depreciation looks like this:1000-300-600-250 = $150 LossIf your income is over $150,000, then you cannot deduct that loss, but you can roll it over to future years. 

The limits are not high at first, but they can build with good utilization and payment history.

Then get photos and get third party verification that everything was done right prior to making your final payment to the contractor.

The biggest advantage of using someone local to where you're buying is that they will understand taxes, insurance, and similar items very well when it comes to DTI/DSCR calculations and payment quotes, and they will likely have a local network of service providers for ancillary services (survey, inspections, etc).

Consider FHA loans for lower down payments and reserve for repairs or upgrades.

Sorry for the questions just curious about your method since it seems different than most.  

If I did the BRRRR method would this work out perfect?