was the dehumidifier part of the hvac system to remove excess moisture?

Many firms will do returns for a fixed fee if the engagement does not end up having out of scope work (work that the CPA was not aware of prior to the engagement [things such as excessive cleanup work as Natalie mentioned]).

Maybe a little excessive?

Reduce all non-essential spending today and save the excess from the first job.

My background:  Work a full time job in Finance and have excess capital which I'd like to invest through real estate.

Once you dial in the up front costs as Todd Magin mentioned, I would model out a worst case scenario (high vacancy, unexpected capex) and compare to the amount of your personal reserve plus any excess monthly cash flow from w2 job/other.

For some reason I keep thinking it's excessive for my first house... but why?

Any claim would have to be in excess of insurance limits... 

The lots next to my home are empty and unimproved (think mounds of dirt and weeds, cactus too) and has become the official dumping ground of the builder for everything from excess plywood to mattresses and extra concrete and rebar. 2.

It also gives me a competitive cost advantage where the guest won't have to pay excessive booking fees like they would through the OTA's.Happy to help!