I think my insurance will cover a lot of the interior damages, but general life cycles of plumbing (and other) systems I believe are on the homeowner.Has anyone here had any good luck with a warranty company? 

I believe we are late in the real estate cycle and there might be a drop in housing prices (which I am ok with), and in such a scenario I would like the rental income to be able to at least cover the mortgage payments and would be ok with paying for other costs out of pocket.

And to make matters worse, things are different from region to region, and the best tradespeople never give away their best working solutions under any circumstances, so you either have to discover the solutions on your own piecemeal or hire someone looking for work who at least looks legit and pray that they're not BSing you, which is usually a really bad gamble.One of Pittsburgh's oddest features is the extremely high number of freeze-thaw cycles of the area.

So likely the tests will fail and this cycle will continue all while this tenant is living out of the house and I will likely have to foot the bill of her alternative housing.

You'll be insulated from from many market cycles as long as the college does well.You'll rent to college kids that aren't the most conceintious, but parents will cosign.

Those rental market should stay strong through any upcoming down cycles as well. 

One possible event I am personally keeping an eye out on is lender financing of commercial properties and what happens as these adjustable rate mortgages cycle to higher rates.

The only challenge was on the title side, the lovely Philadelphia water department got involved and we had to have a metered installed and wait for a new reading to come in when the cycle was over.

This cycle may change depending on the area, but I'd find out your cyclical cycle and choose the months in the slow market where you will find the best deals. 

Good for you, looking to break the cycle.