Do a few walk-throughs with a GC until you get an idea of what repairs are going to run you for certain items.  

The website allows you to research some items free and some they will charge for individual data or printing and the fees are small.

LOTS of items to go over when going that route, for sure.Would it be possible to google earth the lot?

one thing to remember is your not going to be living in the house,, so it would no longer qualify for tax purposes as homestead so you property tax base will more than likely increase so this is another item to consider as a cost if you keep the house as a rental. 

Over  a hold period as the asset gets older the operating costs usually start going up more.A seller owning a brand new built asset years 1 to 10 and claiming XX costs might be true but you owning for the next years 11 to 20 etc. the cost profile of the property will be way different as many items will reach the end of their life expectancy and need replacement or multiple repairs to keep functioning optimally.Even on larger multifamily 50% is common for total expenses and if landlord pays utility it can even be more like 60% operating costs.

One of though items to consider forming some type of corporation or a LLC.

A contractor just needs to check off a list of updates, they don't need to worry about the life span of those updates or how likely different items are to need frequent repair or maintenance.

I have reading a lot of items so far.

In your mind a property is purchased (as is) but, if it ends up in court then you will find (here in Washington) that "AS IS" is a term used for a personal item or something within the property like ( dishwasher or broken windows or carpets and most of the time appliances) are "AS IS".

We had a certain look that we wanted for this house and I calculated every single item and already did my homework on flooring and painting beforehand.