You can test plumbing and electrical all you want but nothing is a better test than the daily use over several weeks. 

The previous owner charged $1000/mo in rent for this Salon Unit, and had the tenants pay for Electric.

The next day one of the tenants emailed and was very nasty saying that “there was a flood in their house and how quickly will it be fixed, how much am I pro rating rent and they expect to be reimbursed for using their electricity to run my machines”.

I turn them on for all the reasons above, but there are downsides.The druggies that are homeless do watch and see a house being rehabbed with water and electricity and move in, or sometimes just stay the night and leave before the workers come in the morning. 

I’m an electrical contractor so I understand the value of time.

This has been especially frustrating as I live across the country.After 6 months of suffering, I finally got clarity on how meters should be assigned: Entire house has a shared gas meterUnit One (1 BR) and Unit Two (1 BR) each has its own electric meterUnit Three (2 BR) shares an electric meter with the basement, which only the tenants in Unit One & Two have access to for laundry (Unit Three has in-unit laundry); apparently this meter also powers the fan for the furnace and the hot water heaterI'm seeking advice on how to fairly charge Unit Three for electric usage.

No, does he know stuff about electrical, yes but that’s not his specialty and these are nuanced things.

Before that I did commercial electrical and I have a range of experience in basic home construction.I have read the "Ultimate Beginner's Guide to REI," which was a great read, and am currently reading "Real Estate Investing for Dummies."

I also suggest you have an inspector come out and give you a punch list of the inspection items, most importantly, electrical systems, plumbing systems, roof, and HVAC.The kitchen and baths are a full gut, the obvious new flooring and paint in and out, landscaping, new electrical and plumbing fixtures, and then you have some major dry wrought (likely some termite issues too) and stucco repairs.

Spent $7k turning the old junky basement into industrial-chic-cool with exposed wood beams, lots of shiny new electrical outlets via exposed conduits and OSB (pressed wood) for the sub floor.