I usually suck up all the plumbing issues with LTR because I know it will just waste my time and of course plumbing is the most expensive repair every single time. 

If the water would have came back bad we were prepared to replace the pipe but was told this repair would be around $8K. 

And yes, I know people will say "get her in contract if she wants the house and perform repairs" that would be the best scenario except At that point I was completely out of money.

In this instance I would tell the buyers I wasn’t fixing it as long as there wasn’t some other reason to compel me to do the repairs.

That’s what I’m talking about.. having people on the ground who know their turf and can spot trouble before it smacks you in the face.From what I’ve heard, outfits like Northwest Preferred Property Management or Umbrella Properties in Eugene aren’t just running the numbers.. they’ve seen the weird mid-season repairs and the tenant personalities you’ll never read about in a textbook.

As mentioned elsewhere, breakeven on cash flow is not the same as break even for taxes.Let's make some assumptions:Rental income = $1000Mortgage payment = $400 - but $300 is interest and $100 is principalOther expenses (repairs, advertising, utilities, etc) = $600Depreciation = $250The above scenario creates a break even from a cash flow perspective, however the tax scenario looks like this:Rental income minus the mortgage interest (principal is not deductible) minus the other expenses minus depreciation looks like this:1000-300-600-250 = $150 LossIf your income is over $150,000, then you cannot deduct that loss, but you can roll it over to future years. 

The plumber will likely have to cut open the ceiling to confirm and make repairs, so you can save a little money by learning how to do that yourself, confirm the problem, and then call the plumber for repair, then patch the ceiling yourself.As Jonathan is trying to point out, it's important to expect these things and have funds on hand to deal with them.

Consider FHA loans for lower down payments and reserve for repairs or upgrades.

Every municipality has different zoning variance procedures.

You might hit a few bumps in the road...tenants who imagine due dates are more like suggestions, or unexpected repairs that crop up at the worst possible moment...but that’s part of the ride.