In addition, were the utilities utterly separate from one another? 

TK is for new investors... you would not have the access to better deals at this stage in the game nor should go after more of a BRR

Hello BiggerPockets World,I am in the beginning stages of my Real Estate career, and by beginning stages, I mean NEW NEW.

I am in this weird in-between stage.

We plan for $8k to stage a 3 bedroom house.   

While I should be the one answering this question, I imagine many people in the BP community have been in this stage of building a rental property portfolio.

In these early stages you should also take a look at fixing any credit that needs to be fixed and get pre-approved. 

That's a big life change and a lot of inconvenience (if they're like my parents, they have a LOT of junk by this age) just to play the tax game.Your parents should be at a stage in life where they are enjoying their wealth, not jumping through hoops to manage it.

Night of 1st I get there & they'd thrown everything left behind in front of driveway, filled trash, recycling & yard waste bins with said shoes, clothes, furniture & dishes & the house was UTTERLY filthy - they had obviously NEVER cleaned.

I've often heard it said that there are 4 stages of real estate (see article below).