Mike, My recommendation would be during due diligence for a potential purchase, ask for past 12 months of all utility bills, property taxes, and any other municipal requirements like rental permits, occupancy inspections etc. 

For example, in some cases even when the home is livable a seller might turn off utilities on a vacant house to save money.

Call me old fashioned, but real estate is an income producing physical asset.

Earlier this year, we were also posted on Booking.com, and while the listing did produce several reservations, it came with a huge amount of frustration and more last-minute cancellations that we've experienced (significantly more as a %) than the other 2 booking platforms, Airbnb and VRBO.

Service would change, though, as the successful experiences of early-adopter customers would demonstrate the utility and superiority of NewCo.

That’s before factoring in utilities or each personal situation.

you will need to look at the APN of the property and line it up with what you actaully bought. as mentioned the tax assessed value is not an indicator of value. the land could be a utility easement, used for stormwater management etc.

But the $1m value increase has produced a good return (and why my equity position is so high).Recognize when you increase your down, you are purchasing the cash flow at a rate qual to the interest rate.  

Look for properties with features like separate utilities and layouts that appeal to tenants.

What are the expenses (taxes, who pays utilities, etc)?