He should be familiar with doing developments that you are looking to build and give you ballparks for each line item if not find one that is able to do that.

So far, we have received this advise from appraisers in the Maple Heights area: 1) Attach all offers so the next appraiser can better understand the market value, 2) Provide a letter from the Maple Heights Building Department discussing the addition of the egress window making the bedroom conforming livable space, 3) provide comps for similar properties sold in the Maple Heights area (these do not have egress windows), and 4) create an itemized list of improvements and cost for renovations to the property.We are grateful to the Bigger Pockets community for their advice as well. 

Probate in CA is another item last I've heard its around 46K fee for a 1 mil gross estate.  

I'm sure this model will be super helpful in other cities as well. 

This is not an unusual structure for investors with loads of experience and model that is proven to work, but for someone just starting out it makes no sense.Cheers!

It is a rare off-market property that does not involve work and/or have risk items.  

If I were you (and you meet the items listed above), I would definitely still move forward with licensing since you already have the property.

Based on the value of a property you can likely get away with a inexpensive desk top study such as condos and you will require a more comprehensive engineering study for larger properties like a 4plex.Desktop / modeling options are sometimes good for smaller residential like you mention. 

For the most part its just health and safety items, which are items we should have remedied anyways.As someone else mentioned, biggest thing to avoid is having the house tagged as vacant which the city will do if it sits empty for too long (handful of months, grass not cut, etc).

Find somebody locally that's already renting to students and see if you can provide value to them and learn about their business model.