That is the pain I’m in right now.

Proximity to campus and dependency on the academic schedule are the conundrum of student housing and are very challenging to reconcile...I'm talking from little experience...but a painful one...just missed the year with my first student SFH despite all my effort to get it ready on time...had accepted offer in January...closed beginning of March...then had very hard time finding a contractor (had about 8 bid on the project)...all were very busy and most didn't even bother to follow up with bids...bottom line...be prepared to hold the place empty for months.From your post it seem you plan to invest locally which does give you a great advantage (I'm 3 hrs away from my houses).Couple of thoughts:In markets where the students want to walk to campus it is very hard to strike on both timing and proximity...you need to be prepare to get places as they become available as inventory is very limited...in my market the students practically don't cross certain streets...very defined geographic area and you have to be in it (this is market specific so you need to map your market).As Tim Simmons said the most important thing is to know your market.

However, for those of us that handle multiple properties and get 50%+ of our reservations from other sites, this is going to be a huge pain in the rear. 

In regards to the refrigerator door, I would try and get a handyman out there to see if the current one can be salvaged  and re-attached because finding replacements for these types of items are a major pain. 

Also, during due diligence, you should "interview" the existing tenant to get their thoughts on the property, pain points and see if they are interested in renewing/expanding. 

Being there in person all the time is a major pain to deal with. 

What was a pain became an even bigger one.

I hope the tenant homesteads the property and having  to remove a storage shed could be a pain for the tenant thus could cause them to want to keep renewing the lease. ;)

So I live in pain daily but have to deal with it the best i can.  

Yes the city is a pain to deal with, but those are healthy numbers.