We execute a "Utilities Budget Agreement" as an addendum to the lease, which works are follows:1) We identify all the utilities (hydro, gas, water/sewer, cable, etc) and services (snow removal) which are to be governed under the agreement and set an amount which will be paid, in advance, into the budget fund each month by the tenant;2) When the utility bills arrive, we pay them and forward an electronic copy to the tenant so they are aware of their resource consumption.3) Every three months (quarterly) we reconcile the amount paid into the utilities budget against the utilities bills incurred.  

And some issues were being caused by them, like when they'd overload a circuit with several high-draw electronics and such.  

Also it makes a difference is the house is outdated.If it is functional but outdated it will become an expense for the buyer down the road with upgrading to sell to the next buyer.For instance if a home is 1 to 2 years old and you buy you can get away with owning a few years and reselling without pouring a bunch of money into it.If you buy a house that is say 5 to 10 years old and resell in a few years you will most likely have to spend substantial money updating for resale.On the bpo's now they actually make the 3rd party bpo broker/agent (who does not have the listing)sign an electronic from when submitting the report that they have not been influenced nor have they had discussions with any parties relating to the value of the property.The buyers broker,buyer,listing broker,and seller all have an interest to see the sale happen.The BPO person getting paid for a report is just an objective 3rd party.You want to make sure and not overpay for a property.For instance you put in an offer and wait 2 months for acceptance.Meanwhile the market has declined 6% since then and your deal is no longer that great.It's critical to know with a short sale how many mortgages and liens are present.The more to negotiate the more of a long shot of getting approval from all parties and hitting the value needed.

If it doesn't work for you in the future you can advise her that electronic payment by check can be set up to arrive to you on time and she can do that several months in advance.

That would be very helpful if it can be sent electronically my email is [email protected]

Hello what are the best tools to collect rent electronically?

That can include burning, pulverizing, or shredding paper documents and disposing of electronic information so that it can't be read or reconstructed.What are other landlords or property managers doing in this regard?

It's really simple, you want to electronically capture every dollar in and out to the program.

Unless the property is a top end then I would not install more gizmos.I find this is true with appliances too the more electronics the more likely it will turn into a service call.

Here we are using higher end finishes and adding items such as light tubes, electronic apartment monitoring {software my other company is developing} and door locks (tenants can open the door w/ their phone).In this area we are in the middle/lower end of the buildings - there are a lot of furnished, executive flats here which are rented to government ministers as we are 2-blocks from the legislature - but we are specifically positioning our building for the younger generation (the assistants to the ministers living in the upper-end, furnished apartments).