If you ever decide to look over in this area, I'd be happy to put you in touch with the systems I utilize over here and give you insight on which areas to look for. 

Hey all - I'm new to the RE investing game and have some (probably dumb) questions regarding cash on cash returns. As some background, I'm looking for turnkey or close to it and would be using a management company sin...

Run an Opco/Propco model.If your business utilizes real estate as part of ongoing operations you can get all the tax benefits of active RE by having the building purchase and hold the RE.3.

Hi Gavin,This is fairly common, and it’s great that you’re thinking ahead about how to handle utilities responsibly.

Unfortunately there's a lot of alarmist/scare tactics utilized to upsell these services that do nothing but generate revenues for those who are selling the service and often leave the clients with recurring expenditures i.e  annual maintenance costs.  

Mike, My recommendation would be during due diligence for a potential purchase, ask for past 12 months of all utility bills, property taxes, and any other municipal requirements like rental permits, occupancy inspections etc. 

For example, in some cases even when the home is livable a seller might turn off utilities on a vacant house to save money.

That’s before factoring in utilities or each personal situation.

you will need to look at the APN of the property and line it up with what you actaully bought. as mentioned the tax assessed value is not an indicator of value. the land could be a utility easement, used for stormwater management etc.

Look for properties with features like separate utilities and layouts that appeal to tenants.