Too many people get burned because they underestimate the repair cost, or closing costs, or the ARV value is incorrect.

If the place burns down and some insurance company cuts a check, you want to cash that, right?

I've seen first-timers and new investors burn thousands of dollars because they did things out of order.

Counter tops that don't scratch, stain, or burn.

Many people want to wear all the hats in their business, and then find that certain things aren't getting done well (they're not good at everything) or they're burning themselves out (doing too much and working too many hours).

On the utilities: I was once burned with a similar situation where the tenant did not switch utilities as agreed in the contact and the water company (city) and the power company refused to turn it off when I asked them, as they knew somebody was living in there.Now we give the tenant detailed written instructions how to turn water & power on when signing the lease. 5 minutes later we call to get both turned off.

I really could not understand the first guy.. and I don't know what the heart burn is about Jim is simply broker selling real estate.. and brokers in his type of business use all sorts of advertising.when my wife takes a listing it auto populates to like 25 sites.. its part of being a full service brokerage.. at least in the retail end of things.. in the distressed space we did door knock.. as so many distressed owners simply would not respond to anything other than someone talking to them belly to belly.. but out here on the west coast most of those techniques are now illegal as it relates to distressed ( in foreclosure ) assets.

The only thing you'd have to be wary of is burning bridges at a credit union. 

Eventually I would like to invest in 15-30 unit building, these are my long deep felt burning desire, it finally has come for me to make it a reality, I am now fully retired and thinking about making this side business to create extra passive income and keep my mind stimulated and not let it become stale hahaha 

Fed burn the dollar from circulation by increasing RRP (REPO activity), including not swapping the old debt with newer matured debt3.