Can the cost to install a submeter for utilities be tax deductible? I would have assumed yes but I know many landlords who havent done it so maybe not? 

Item Cost Life years Months Cost Per Month Roof $ 6,000.00 25 300 $ 20.00 HVAC $ 4,500.00 15 180 $ 25.00 Hot H2O $ 550.00 8 96 $ 5.73 Flooring Carpet $ 1,800.00 5 60 $ 30.00 Flooring Laminate Wood $ 1,800.00 10 120 $ 15.00 Interior Paint $ 2,500.00 6 72 $ 34.72 Exterior Paint $ 3,000.00 8 96 $ 31.25 Revamp Plumbing $ 1,500.00 20 240 $ 6.25 Revamp Electrical $ 3,500.00 30 360 $ 9.72 Misc $ 200.00 1 12 $ 16.67 Monthly CapEx Allowance _ _ _ $ 179.34 

My plan is to completely gut the house and have everything new - electrical, mechanical, etc.

There are some electrical issues. 

Clean up 25k with conservative sale price of 360k.

Yes, that might be possible for a relatively clean house, but is absolutely impossible for a larger rehab project as holding costs due to the additional time to do the work.The zero interest rate environment is a major factor in the price increase as wholesalers have used this to their advantage to show non real estate investors what good cash flows they can get with little investment providing they can qualify for low interest conventional loans. 

It needs 50K in paint, central AC, pool drain, clean and possibly re surface.

I did find that electricity jumped for a couple weeks especially as I had crews in the place all day, and an agent advised me of the FHA rule after I was into the project by 21 days.Essentially it was the little stuff I hadn't planned on - this was a condo and a "resale certificate" is necessary... another few hundred unplanned, mandatory "dryer vent cleaning" (albeit I cannot fine this anywhere in the rules/regs of the association, its just cheaper to do it rather than fight it), cabinet pulls (after replacing counter tops, faucets and fixtures)... all in I came up with another $1400 of unplanned expense, eating up roughly 50% of my contingency budget!

I don't mind buying a house that might need roof work, minor plumbing/electrical, drywall and paint.

Now I'm not asking for a hand out I'd be willing to do odd jobs from time to time ( I can do minor electrical work ).