Couple things that come to mind are schedule a regular landscaping company to trim the lawn, make sure utilities are on but shut the water off at the meter just in case there is an interior water break the property wont be damaged, make sure your insurance covers a vacant property and or a vacant property undergoing construction, if its in a bad area you may want to consider an alarm system (i use simply safe because you can install it yourself and use it on other properties as needed) leave some exterior and interior lights on and finally have someone go and check on the property once in a while if its going to be sitting.

To be safe, forecast trapping 10% even if the BRRRR is done mostly right.In San Diego, ADU are being appraised below hands off construction costs. 

And your money is safely inside the policy and not at risk of loss in the market.

Once you have enough to safely continue flipping, but can tie some up in a BRRRR type situation, then cherry pick a property you might flip, ad value by doing a reno, and then rent it out instead of flipping that one. 

Quote from @Jorge Morales: Pellet stoves, particularly newer ones, are an extremely safe and cost-effective method of heating a home.

An area with good and safe parks to visit with the family safe neighborhood and where the climate is not too crazy.

You also start hearing talk about how "this time is different" and seeing a lot of real estate cheerleader articles making all kinds of arguments about why it's still safe to invest in real estate.  

@Melissa Nash, my wife and I are from North Alabama, so we're looking to move closer to home, but we also want to get started in REI with safe bets.

The condo option is a real safe way to go.

For a rental, you can be fairly safe at $10-12 per square foot for your basic upgrades inside.