If there is no deferred maintenance to start with then you are just budgeting for repairs and dealing with them as they come up.

At times, I wish I hadn't even touched certain things as it cost me more to hire out a contractor to fix my mistakes, and other times I have saved myself a few hundred dollars on maintenance costs.

Now how much are you bringing in based on renting both sides, paying your mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance? 

I simply budget 5% of incoming rent for maintenance and 5% for future capital improvements and manage the properties as time goes and as things come up.For example, when a tenant moves out, I will look at the property and determine if any rehab/upgrades make sense at that point.

they normally look at the seller to give a lot of seller credits and the home has to pass their fairly rigid inspection criteria.. they dont want first time homeowners in homes that are in need of a lot of repair or deferred maintenance. the program basically is for those with poor credit and little to no money but can toe the line and get into home ownership.. 

Cons are the monthly/yearly fees and the lawn maintenance. 

Higher risk properties have more variable costs, vacancy, CapEx, maintenance, and potential evictions. 

Maintenance can completely ruin your cashflow and whatever you thought the deal would return.

Similar low maintenance, they aren't subject to Condo laws, and you could get financing much easier, particularly FHA, unlike condos.  

Higher maintenance and repair costs (even low to no skill workers demand 35-40% higher labor)This has led us to diversify our strategy and convert some of our units into MTR's instead of LTRs to increase margin.