But, surprisingly there isnt a lot of real estate investors buying through trusts when they should be.

Live below your means and try to establish an emergency fund as soon as possible.Don't spend a fortune learning personal finance.  

This is YOUR property, no one will care about it more than you will.As @Steve Vaughan said above, make sure to talk with an estate planning lawyer and your CPA so you won't be surprised with a very large bill handed to you by the IRS at the end of the year.Good Luck!

Lender expenses should never be a surprise - rehab is another story...

Standardized contracts are used so both buyer and seller aren't likely to have any surprises from a legal standpoint.

and yeah, some of those home runs are possible, but it's surprisingly tough figuring out what the norm is.10-12% seems like a good minimum...just out of curiosity, why are you offering up what seem to be the "better" deals at 25% or more to JV partners?  

Once you rent it in 2017, the expenses after it is rented can be deducted for 2017 taxes.The tax rules related to rental properties are pretty confusing and surprising at first, you should definitely spend time reading about them and learning as much as possible, whether you decide to use an accountant or not.

There were no big surprises on this one except for having to install all new duct work due to rodent infestation. 

We were unpleasantly surprised when the market crashed.

There are times when a title company will load up the HUD-1 with "junk fees", learn to recognize them and negotiate them away.You should always get a HUD in advance of your live settlement, this way there will no surprises at the settlement table.