You'll thank me later.Replace outdated light fixturesTake care of all obvious repair or maintenance issues.Upgrade electrical panel if necessary--I don't mess around with electricity.Service the HVAC systemIf a house has only central heat but not AC, I install a new system.I have a plumber go through the house thoroughly to make sure everything is in good condition; if it isn't, he fixes it.There's more, I'm sure, but I'm blanking out.  

My garage has BOTH electrical panels and the water service.Any thoughts on how to proceed?

It depends on the price point, but I'm going to assume that you are flipping an average house with shaker style cabinets in your market instead of a luxury home with modern flat panel European style cabinets.I'm not sure if this is available in your market, but we buy from local Chinese Building supply stores.

I recently had to upgrade the service and panels on a six unit I purchased in Cicero even though the existing panels were 100 amp.

Spending extra on mechanicals and materials to increase the lifespan and designing the house so can be easily maintained (adding service panels to shower control valves or vanities, etc.)

Sometimes they would disable the electrical panel as well.I distinctly remember one of my colleagues who did it just because the rent check bounced & he retired a very wealthy man with a lot of 'doors'. 

I have spoken on panels at REIA groups with them a few times.they have a non recourse product for foreigners they sell the paper to insurance companies and they take on other brokers..

For gas and electrical meters, I have only had to install one new electric service/panel on my property in South Bend, IN.

In some of them it's a fabric panel you have to replace or wash; in some of them it's more like the lint filter on a dryer (a plastic or wire mesh) that you just scrape off/wash off and reinstall. 

There is a big list of other items including cleaning the curtains they balled up & stuck in a dusty corner, repairing a panel wall where he glued about 50 metal hat hooks for his ballcaps, ripped window shades, really dirty carpet (2 dogs, 2 toddlers).