Mindset, daily discipline, refusal to give up, and having the life (healthy marriage, kids and self) you want is much more difficult in practice and often requires a teachers. :)Joe Fairless, Rod Khleif, Michael Blank (in no particular order).

Or is that a common practice among trusted contractors and investors? 

Timeframe, legal considerations, and best practices going forward of course vary by jurisdiction.You can't count on believing that the family member doesn't already have utilities under their name or similar arrangement that will keep the power on for them.

Can I cold call for you, I need to practice this skill anyways? 

I’m here to soak up all the knowledge I can, share my experiences, and connect with others who are just as passionate about real estate.I’m looking forward to jumping into discussions, learning from everyone here, picking up tips and best practices for multifamily investments, house flipping, house hacking, and BRRRR, as well as making connections and maybe even collaborating on future projects.Thanks for having me!

I’d practice analyzing both single family houses as well as smaller multi family deals from 2-10 or so units.

I might look to practical things that can be done to mitigate those risks such as adding a sprinkler system to that basement unit or something like that.

On paper and in practice, the BRRRR strategy is great.

Standard practice to rip it all out and replace , overall

I always advise potential buyers to carefully evaluate the specific HOA's fees, services, and management practices while performing their due diligence.