But those expenses would have to be in thousands a month for this not to make sense. 

If the builder never transferred title, they might try to argue that its comparable to selling a model home within a new construction developement (new home, but has had thousands of folks walking in and out for months...sometimes years).I would be confused as to why someone would offer it as new construction when it had been lived in unless their aim is to avoid capital gains, but you say lived in a few months and not two years so that does not track.

I'm glad this learning experience didn't end up costing us tens of thousands of dollars.

Some big recent news is Walmart requiring all remote work to now be in person for thousands of jobs.

These fees can be in the tens of thousands and must be paid in advance.

The biggest pitfall is when a landlord tries to be "nice" - non-paying tenants are literally stealing from you, treat them like the criminals that they are.To calculate reserves for vacancy costs We average about 2-3% vacancy across our portfolio, I use 5% as the number for reserves.

Literally every time a job went south, it was on the customer.

So spending thousands on a complex set up is a waste of money until you actually have something of substance.

I had the exact same issue, literally about a year ago, but on my personal residence.

So maybe a few thousand dollars a month before it's even built.