Before you get contractors to give you estimates, you are going to want to look at the numbers.

I have experience in construction project scheduling/control and BIM design/estimates.

A family of 4, Moving from out of town. they filed a chapter 13 in 2012 to keep their house in socal. due to recent job they had to move, will have a contract job for a year at local college. current credit score is 790. my rent is on par with zillow estimate.. income wise, they made the 3x gross multiplier.

It's a fun exercise to divide the replacement cost by your estimate of the items useful life to calc out how much you should theoretically have in your reserve fund each year.I'm a long ways from theoretical, but at least I know how far off I am.Best to you.

I'm purchasing a home and the lender has sent me over the estimated closing costs.

For example, we typically fund between 70-80% of the Purchase price in addition to 100% of the rehab estimate for our Fix n Flip loans.

I Have a 3BR 2ba 1500 square feet house under contract for $59,900 and a estimate repair cost between $20000-$25000.

So far her has received 2 estimates. $800(IMO too low) and $6100(IMO way too high).

Besides calling a general inspector to check for obvious issues, and a general contractor for estimating rehab costs, is there anything else I can do to reduce exposure?

The Book on Flipping Houses and The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs.