Such a powerful strategy. 

There are two power systems, battery operated or hard wired, which allow the meter to communicate with a wireless router that sends the data to a database at the company (this is accessable to you the owner/property manager via the web) and then a bill is sent to the tenants automatically at a interval that you set.

Taxes/ year: $3,002,  Insurance: $1,573,  Trash/ year: $654,   Electric/ year (exterior lights): $420,   Water/ year: $1,200 sewer/ year: $1,500,   Spray for bugs/ prevention: $311/ year,    Lawn cutting/ year: $640,   Misc (furnace filters/ 9v batteries): $250I have gotten mixed reviews back from my colleagues when they go over these numbers with me.

UPDATE: We ended up closing around 8wks instead of their requested 2wk, due to one of the 2 owners/sellers' power of attorney papers being from while he was on vacation overseas.Only the front door keys were given, so we had to change the back door locks/keys.2 weeks after closing, various agent were still walking around and into the property's rear where we were gardening, and showing us on their phones that the property was still listed for sale and 'Active' on c21.com by Agent-owner's listing broker.Was wondering why they never updated it still yet - not pending, not in contract, not even sold after the sale til i complained to the broker people were walking in to inspect.Wonder if there are fines for not updating listing status, and who imposes them - MLS, CalBRE, or?

If you are in the 30% tax bracket and put in $10,000 of your own funds and you company matches that, you have effectively earned roughly $13,000 right off the top, as opposed to you being able to put $7,000 after-tax direct into your own bank account outside of the IRA.Even if the investment options of the employer plan are not great, as a savings vehicle and means to squirrel away some good tax-sheltered savings, it can be a powerful tool.If the company is contributing to an IRA (SEP or SIMPLE), you can ask to house your account in a self-directed IRA that you could then invest into things like real estate, notes, and the like. 

If you try to "look the other way" and quietly allow more than the max number and neighbors complain to the city you can be fined, dragged into court, and the city can even shut your power off.In a nutshell, unless you have family or some other strong connection to this city, I would strongly suggest anywhere but here.

Ah yes, that magical time of year when I get to teach my kids about America and the power of Capitalism!

Very powerful stuff.Few lessons learned:- Never pay a large sum up front- Vet a company much better- Don't trust a wolf in female clothing - No one hugs after a business transaction- Check court records- Never go with the cheapest bidOnce this hypothetical situation is over, I'm definitely going to provide more details.

The power of commercial financing.

My ideal situation would be to place it on a loan as soon as I can to recoup my cash back and gain buying power again.