They did, in fact, underestimate one job and ate the costs instead of trying to pass it to me.I agree with @Matthew Paul about good contractors not being cheap and cheap contractor not being good. 

The Association Fees ate up my margin so just be careful the numbers work.

Pssst, inflation ate your dingo.

As it turns out, HUD ate the fees and we didn't have to pay.On a later occasion, I bought a house on the courthouse steps only to have the trustee contact me to "rewind" the sale.

Over the course of a year my wife and I fixed it up, rented to friends, ate peanut butter and jelly, did everything we could.

So, if the project came in over-budget, I ate it.

Everything had to replaced and fixed so it ate up alot of the budget Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

Needless to say holding cost and overages ate my lunch.

Doesn't matter if it was weekends, holidays, Mom got sick, dog ate my rent check, etc.Now, dealing with senior citizens who rely on social security to pay the rent, those folks have 5 BUSINESS days to pay. 

In 2008 when the Market ate ****, the value plummeted to $130k, and has since risen to $170k.