Make sure you have enough equity to move forward and also you have to be below 50% debt to ratio income. 

At that point if would free up my Debt-to-income ratio (Nothing would be in my name & I could start growing again).

Deduct NEW property taxes after you buyDeduct home insurance costsDeduct maintenance percentage, typically 10%Deduct vacancy+tenant nonperformance percentage(we recommend 5% for Class A, 10% Class B, 20% Class C, good luck with Class D)Deduct whatever dollar/percentage of cashflow you wantNow, what you have left over is the amount for debt service.Enter it into a mortgage calculator, with current interest rate for an investment property, to determine your maximum mortgage amount.Divide the mortgage amount by either 75% or 80%, depending on the required down payment percentage - this is your tentative price to offer.If the property needs repairs, you'll want to deduct 110%-120% of the estimated repairs from this amount.Be sure to also research the ARV and make sure it's 10-20% higher than your tentative purchase price.As long as the ARV checks out, this is the purchase price to offer.It is probably significantly below the asking price.

Are there any tips, tricks, or guides for turning on utilities after close of escrow and possession?

As you know, cash flow comes down to how much you have to put in the deal, what it produces, and how your debt payment is structured. 

You could do 5% down Fannie Mae program and quitclaim into LLC but the debt with still report to personal credit.DSCR is the way to go.

Whatever you do, please make sure that you get something signed saying that are completely gone and have no claim to any possessions they left behind. 

A private investor will want to see a few successful deals before taking out large sums as a debt loan.

The Greek government debt crisis.

Purchase price: $925,000 Cash invested: $200,000 13 Unit Multifamily property in the Waveland neighborhood of Des Moines, Iowa. pre-acquisition: 7% under MR and 15% vacancy/bad debt.