It is common and customary acrossa almost all rentals except some A class office to pay your share of utilities.Now you can make whatever arangment you'd like and work it out however you want with your tenant but if you are going to "share costs" I'd suggest keeping the utilities in your name, and then "back billing" the tenants for that share of their usage, but again thats a lot of work for really no gain in my book.My recommendation would be to simply have the tenants pay all utilities. 

Are you looking to add more to your company or begin a personal portfolio?  

Outside of West Oakland, what areas would you say are likely to go up in value over time - what pockets/neighborhoods are you looking at?

That's pretty damn solid if you ask me.

I'm not going to through out names, but there are companies that only take $500 at closing from an agent. 

For those who have scaled their fix-and-flip operations, what are the best lending solutions you’ve used?

Hi Tiffani, often new appliances that are "off brands" that you purchase come with a warranty and perform well plus they look new.  

@Rick Albert has answered the main points that you have to consider. 

There are towns that are not too far where there could be some options for you, but I would start going to real estate investor meetups and pair that with books and podcasts.

I am hopeful that 2025 will be a good year for real estate in the PNW.