I would try to get him to take possession earlier for a discount so at least you have utilities and etc out of your name and some money coming in earlier even if he doesn't fully move in earlier.

A PS the utilities were already ran when I bought the house + the day zoning was called was when I was digging for the patio.

They move out ASAP and they are responsible to maintain utilities and keep paying rent until you find a new tenant.

I would network with local investors to gauge their utility bills, pool maintenance, landscaping, cleaning costs...

You definitely don't need a maintenance person each time, you just need to have someone who can utilize chemicals and test strips. 

About to close on my first STR in the Knoxville, TN area...what software(s) could we utilize to best manage it remotely?

--There are other public records where your identity may be discoverable including mortgages (trust deeds), utility bill guarantees, and property tax payment records. 

The real gem is that utilities for a laundromat is behind the curb and could work as my utilities.

My experience was getting my personal credit utilization high as I bought product for my business, and subsequently my FICO went low; therefore financing was increasingly difficult. 

However, there are often workarounds to utilize PM software for tracking corporate-level financials, and AppFolio has introduced features to support this.Regarding services like Monday.com, these are more suited for project tracking and team communication.