Your writings indicate your just looking to pay cash and have a propertyThe theory with brrr is you get it below market, fix it, rent it, way till it is seasoned (6-12 mos) then refinance it and get all your cash back because you have 20%+ equity in the dealAs an example I bought a condo for $70k, put $20k into it, rented it for $1500 and refinanced it as it appraised for $140k so I took a 90k loan to get my money out (don’t take extra but some may- personal preference).Now I got my 90k cash back, so no cash in deal and rent is paying PITI + condo fees and still cash flowing $200.

I would ask myself if I could get much more than an extra $7,500 in profit by closing on it myself and then reselling it, and if not, it makes sense to get it under contract and assign. 

We added recess lighting, got the laundry inside the house, converted the extra room into a gym and also painted the whole house including the tiles in the bathroom (since me and my girlfriend were experts in painting from all the experience we had from the back house).All of this costed about $30k.

If you are further, you'll have to work hard to entice folks to drive the extra mile. 

You can build your model up to be much more complicated, I use the BRRR method so mine accounts for a few extra variables that I’ll mention later.3.Prepare your data.Running lots of scenarios does not mean that you get to skip on the due diligence to understand your costs.

I went to the Zoning Board to ask for an additional two units and got shot down, getting ready to go back to ask for just 1 extra unit.

Not only is that an occupancy violation but specifically marketing your property as student housing violates fair housing.I wish landlords followed the law, because putting the extra occupants in the property crowds parking on the streets and overwhelms them with traffic.

Every persons tax situation is different, but is there some kind of rule of thumb to determine when the extra cost of CPAs are outweighed by the savings of a larger tax return?

Cut all extras you don't need to survive. 

From what they have told me, they enjoyed the extra monthly rent to help pay the mortgage payment.