From a strategic perspective I am looking to buy and hold multifamily and generate good cash flow ( beating the market in terms of COC return).

Aside from that, I think you will find it hard to continually generate losses like you envision.  

You could have the system inspected and use a generator for power.

@Ernie Sturzinger I guess to answer your question...not taking cash from the deal is perfectly fine and even a wise decision...this means the building needs to generate cash flow...you just need to leave it in reserves or make planned improvements...long-term equity is much more important than monthly cash flow.

Many of the cities on your list are in the Southeast, which is perfect if you want to bet on appreciation but not that great if you want a steady cash flow, if your goal is to generate some passive income target the midwest, and stick to solid suburban B areas, don't make the same mistake as many other OOS investors did chasing high double-digit returns in C-D areas, these returns only exist on paper. 

I realized this we investors (including myself) puts too much importance on the cap rate.The cap rate is defined as, "used in the world of commercial real estate to indicate the rate of return that is expected to be generated on a real estate investment property.

And after we sold, it's still climbing.its a testament that those who dont believe in appreciation or think its gambling are missing the boat.. great wealth is generated through appreciation  

Family has been here for generations and I inherited a lot of property here in SoCal tho and am trying to figure out what best to do with them in next 10-15 years.

At the moment I have been driving for dollars about to generate some postcards and see if anyone might be considering selling their homes.

I have 6 rental generating properties where the LTV is ~60%.