I have had one investment property in Birmingham, Alabama, for two years and wholesale cash-flowing turnkey properties in Central Alabama.

Window units, no central air.Rents are on par with the area but updated units are going for close about $1,200 for 1/1 and $1,350 for 2/1.

This campus hosts a large Magnolia home goods store, high end furniture store, cupcake bakery, coffee shop, gardening shop, live music concert venue, large grass area with toys and balls for kids to play with, an open plaza with eight food trucks, a small baseball field (that Babe Ruth once played on and families can now play on for fun), a restored historic chapel (the oldest chapel in Central Texas), and six boutique shops with men, women, and children's products.

HelloI'm an investor and general contractor serving Indy and Central Indiana. 

From the homes we manage here in Central Florida any benefit of your utility bill is negated by the financing of the panels.

You can make a new lease with that tenant proposing a rent raise anywhere from $300-500 but you have to be able to justify it (maybe the property doesn't have central AC, maybe you're planning to do some other type of updating but that can be hard when they're physically living there still if its a bathroom or kitchen) and I would also make it so that that rent increase would go up after 60 days of them signing and agreeing to that new lease. 

Their concept is not new and has been around for ages with people renting rooms in college towns and more expensive markets (NYC, LA) however this is a centralized more hands off management approach to self managing by letting them do all the heavy lifting for you which allows you to scale in less time so yes the concept definitely works and even better with their technology behind it.

Also, I think, general maintenance is centralized so 1 handyman could care for all units, which makes it easier to manage.

when underwriting a property a good rule of thumb would be to set aside ~5% gross income for each Cap Ex, maintenance, and vacancy. (15% total)I dont know much of the market in TX but in central MA i work with a lot of investors that are interested in acquiring multi family properties so that's mostly what i deal in. 

Can't include furnace, hot water tank, central ac and some other built-in appliances - check your local ordinances.