I have read in forums that upfront fees are generally big no-no's.

We had our first child so we have been on the sidelines for a hot minute.

This creates two loan payments ($100,000 of equity and $300,000 on the new mortgage).Key NumbersHome Equity Loan Interest Rate: 6%Mortgage Interest Rate: 7%Rental Income: $3,000 per monthExpenses (management, taxes, insurance, maintenance): $800 per monthIncome and ExpensesMonthly Rental Income: $3,000Monthly Expenses: $800Monthly Mortgage Payment: $2,000ExplanationThe investor earns $3,000 in rent each month.They pay $2,000 on the investment property mortgage and $800 on other expenses.This leaves $200 profit each month or $2,400 per year.However, you have to pay $6,000 interest on the equity borrowed.This leaves you with an annual loss of $3,600.While the rental property generates positive monthly income, the interest cost of borrowing the initial $100,000 results in an overall loss.

I believe it is completely reasonable to have a clause in your lease that places a cap on utilities with any overage (proven by a bill) being the responsibility of the resident.Our clause states that any electrical bill (we don't have gas, and water has never been a problem) that is over double the same month's bill from last year will have the overage assigned as a fee.It is important to keep your bookkeeping straight if you do assess a fee.

And, it's amazing how many closing costs are junk fees that we as investors need to pushback on paying for ourselves and our clients.

So are you spending $100s of dollars per property prior to the tax deed auction for title research? 

Quote from @Sami Gren: I start by making the original tenant fill out a form requesting to add a new renter, and they pay me a $50 processing fee (I charge a $50 fee any time I make changes to an existing lease). 

I feel like a Daisy-Chain would muck up my Timeline or even the whole Deal.As long as everything is in writing and I get my Fee, does it matter?

Quote from @Catherine Ding: My PM company is offering to do it for a high fee of $100/month so I'm trying to find alternative options.

These are good attorneys, one of them even spent over 45 minutes on the phone talking to me about options, as well as a personal discussion about fishing, so he clearly wasn't trying to dismiss me.If you have a case, you can file a complaint with the state commission.