No surprise but property taxes (up another 16%), insurance and utilities are all bumping significantly.

EDUCATE YOURSELF - yes, it will take time, but will lead to a selection that better meets your expectations & avoids potentially costly surprises!

Which was surprising because when I bought it, it was on the market for over 4 months.

I would also advise doing your own inspection of the property to make sure that everything that they say is being done is actually completed and to code and that there shouldn't be any surprise maintenance costs at the beginning.  

We make people take photos of themselves holding their ID and then I also meet them in person for the showing - at least for my units on the NW side of Chicago.I've never heard of these testers, but I am not surprised. 

Go find another property and just check in with this guy once every month or so....you might be surprised one day :-)

It doesn't seem this "accelerator program" is offering anything of true value and quite frankly I am surprised someone such as yourself who has 10 years of experience and owns 50 properties would fall for a gimmick.

AirBnB has been the biggest surprise. 

Research local regulations and permits for STRs in your chosen markets to avoid surprises.

I'm surprised you're still hearing negative things about it considering there's been so much positive press and chatter lately.