If you’re still concerned, you could consider installing programmable thermostats or low-flow fixtures to help control costs without relying entirely on tenant behavior. 

Though fee schedules vary by company, generally speaking, you'll pay more up front for checkbook control and less over time, since the full custodial companies will have transaction fees not to mention the red tape of going through the custodian for all transactions. 

It's too volatile, and you can't really control it.

We can remotely control the temperature, but if someone (a guest) manually changes the thermostat, it overrides our remote settings, which is what we want.   

The last thing we want to do is make the house not pop from the street when we spent a lot of money on the inside, it's really the cherry on top.We use comps to decide how much to spend on the landscaping and how to style the landscape.

I'm sure you and I both understand that as flippers, having control over the construction cannot be stressed enough.

@Dylan Jeluso, where are you feeling you don't have control?  

Do you feel this is controllable or that it's mostly up to chance who succeeds and who fails? 

Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away.

These are places you would spend your vacation dollars with your family to go have a good time for a week or longer.