YUP only the water company takes meters I don't think crooks find any value in them .. but I could be wrong in the tough areas of the US you would be surprised what crooks take.. its more common though for tenants to cut the main line to the meter put a hose on it and then connect to the line coming into the house. that works for a month or two before the water company figures out their water is being jacked. 

It fascinates me and I see the value in it and the lifestyle it could potentially offer my family and me.I recently got the opportunity to join a wholesalers team and knock on pre-foreclosures on the wholesalers behalf for a cut of the spread.

Multi-units are a different animal and no place to be cutting your teeth.I would recommend staring out with a few SFRs or a duplex and grow with your experience.Best of Luck!

If the doors are going to have to be cut off, that's a lot of work and some doors can't be trimmed very much.

We don't know what's going to happen, but it is entirely possible we have another 2008 style scenario where property values are cut in half. 

I am here in Linden but my current tenant base are almost all in job types that havent cut them (yet). 

Should I just cut my losses and say it was simply the cost of doing business (the expenses listed above) or pursue?

Of course, things can go wrong, particularly if you're cutting corners regarding your integrity and your paperwork. 

The last one though is regular market rent and just informed me today that his hours are being cut.

Identified opportunities to cut cost on finishes; we went with a different design that usual so we found that we over paid for some of the finishes but built relationships for future projects with a better understanding of cost.