Was there a burst pipe? 

This is after averaging out the costs of 1) roof, mechanicals, siding, flooring, etc. and dividing by their life span then also subtracting general maintenance costs (handyman type stuff frozen pipes, etc.) you see each year.

Scenario: I have a weird scenario where a week after closing on a home a pipe burst in the second floor unit of a duplex I purchased in late January of this year.

@Russell Brazil,I understand your point about DTI, but I was thinking more about the fact that we would exhaust a significant part of our savings to buy the multi-unit first and would likely have to save extensively for a couple of years in addition to what we might cash flow from the multi-unit to have enough to buy our single-family home next.

@David Falsdefinitely do not exhaust your savings. 

The revolving door of 3 month leases on renting out the 4 bedrooms is exhausting. 

Of course if there is a real problem, it needs to be addressed regardless.Make sure there are operating exhaust fans in the bathroom and that they use them with every shower.

Biggest challenge was the weather - the pipes froze when it reached -27F.

And the water main, which is probably a lead pipe. 

Also there are weather issues with Indiana winters and pipes possibly freezing, thunderstorms and hail damage2) Knowing how long to hold onto a property, 1031 exchange it to another property or DST, or in some cases sell it and pay the small capital gains tax (if any) to have less headache. 3) Underwriting the deal incorrectly (factors: local appreciation, rate of rental increase, economic growth, gentrification of area) and being overly optimistic (a renovated 100 year old home is still going to have problems).