After 6 months of non-payment, we were able to perform an eviction for this tenant.

So it could take a decade to get to todays market rent. 2) it’s almost impossible if not impossible to non-renew a tenant, especially if you’re not an owner occupant. 3) As a seller, even if I could remove paying tenants I never would without a non-refundable payment from a potential buyer that covers all vacancies for 6 months if they fail to complete the purchase. 4) You MIGHT say as a buyer that’s worth it.

Hi Emeka, welcome to BP.

I'm going to be taking some time to get to know people in my market as I kind of want to start local in Las Vegas.

The basic reality is.....instead of using your extra Monday each month to pay back a heloc loan you borrowed to pay down your mortgage.....simply use that extra money each month to directly pay down your mortgage.  

For quick math I have a range of each between: 700/yr to 3% of gross income

If your loan is $110K then the payment on the 15 year would be $927/month at 6.15%; 30 year option at 6.625% would be $690.

Mostly due to the fact my spouse and I agreed on her to have zero involvment in any sort of RE investing (and its our home) I think once you have a good 6-12 months of reserve cash (operating expenses for your own life saved as a back up incase things go bad) save enough liquidity to get the ball rolling on your first invesment.

My suggestion would be to cap your utilities at a certain amount and have Tenants pay anything over that amount.That will help you manage your expenses, and also allow Tenants to gage their usage each month, and make adjustments if they don't want to go over the allotted amount.As far as collection, provide the bill showing any overages and just have them pay for it along with their rent. 

Sure, because when you take rent payments out of the equation you can focus on the tenant landlord relationship and providing the best experience for the tenant.All the best!