They’re upfront about timelines, costs, and any hiccups that might pop up.

Try interviewing at least three managers.1.

I wouldn't be opposed to having a little skin in the game (closing costs, inspections, etc) I would be living there paying market rent and doing the improvements myself.

thanks for your time and help 1st off, full disclosure here, Rent To Retirement advertises their properties on my Investment Properties For Sale Show, so I am not a totally unbiased opinion and it's only fair that I tell you this up frontHaving said that, outside of running my show for people like them, I also own a property management company in Northeast Ohio and have worked with 1,000's of out of state investors over the years.I say all of that to say this, the overwhelming majority of negative reviews I have seen on them are very similar to a lot of negative experiences investors have with my property management company and others like it that I've worked with.

I am doing my best to accommodate and fix the insulation as well as see if there are programs in place to lower the cost. however i want to be firm with tenant as they are not compliant with paying rent because of the cost of the utilities.

The only way to know if your idea is worth doing from a wealth building standpoint is to do the math:  What is the cost to acquire?

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. 

My lease requires professional carpet cleaning, which would cost more than $500 for a home of that size.Yes, it's reasonable to reduce the cost because she was such a long-term tenant.

Leverage will be reduced from the max available, reserve requirements increased and, typically, you would be required to use a professional property manager.

While living in a high-cost area can present challenges, it also opens doors to creative strategies, like investing out of state or leveraging partnerships.