I am afraid to jump in because this is my entire life savings that I'm gambling with. 

You are free to gamble your money as you see fit on your vision of the future. 

Here come the turnkey operators stating that everyone investing in CA is gambling and can’t cash flow if their life depended on it

It sounds great, but starting at over $5,000, it's a big gamble without having insight from people who have used it.

I guess it's a gamble unless I can get inspectors and contractors to look, as well as the utilities turned on for due diligence.

The problem is that they are gambling and if they are inexperienced or under capitalized to meet the obligation in the event of problems... you end up having to foreclose to reacquire a property that is likely poorly maintenanced if not trashed.

We are currently looking at duplexes with 4br 2ba, and it seems that historical utilities combined for these if the owner pays are in the neighborhood of 300-400$ a month.It definitely is a gamble in Northeast Ohio to take the time to install additional meters to pass on the fees to the tenant, but you are right that if it means I have to lower rents to compensate its a wash on income and a negative on the expense I accrued due to metering.

That's kinda my plan, and is certainly 'gambling'.....

Otherwise you're literally just gambling, not investing. 

There may be other parties that have interest in the property, mortgages, liens, etc.Buying a property with these terms is gambling unless you've done your due diligence.