It is always better to have the tenant paying for the utilities as they are the ones using them. 

I know I could put furniture on 0% interest credit cards, but I would need 2+ years to pay it off and I don't want to have to jump through hoops to cycle a balance onto new cards. 

Less RiskWith traditional rentals, if your one tenant fails to pay, you’re in trouble.

Or you could pay cash now and refi later.

What have you been paying for utilities?

I bet they wait until January or February so they don’t have to pay the tax on those gains for another year (which is why we may be seeing less selling this month than in a normal cycle).

In major cities I can get someone out for emergency service typically same day, even if I have to pay overtime for after hours work.

Japanese mind set :)WE just make our money pay our tax's and try to stack cash so we can provide it others and rent the money for a fee :)

class action is what you see on TV  unless there is insurance money to go after you guys are going to have to pay a LARGE retainer to engage an attorney.. and if your deposits are only 40k or so Suing is a waste of time and money for any litigation that small

You will be paying 6-10% for just having them collect rent.