Not to mention they wrote of over $300k worth of taxes for me utilizing a cost segregation study. 

@Chris Collins  Tenants usually pay all utilities. 

However, if you intend to work with a hard money lender or utilize a short-term loan product, you're on the clock for repayment, which can be stressful if things go sideways. 

Thus, I think that we could see national rents rising in the high single digits, or possibly surging as much as 10% in 2026 vs 2025, with some markets seeing rents rise even faster than that - Austin, TX regaining much of the lost growth in 2024 and 2025, for example.

Specifically, I’d love to hear about best practices for managing shared spaces, screening tenants, and setting up house rules.Additionally, I plan to split the utilities among the tenants—any advice on how to handle this efficiently would be greatly appreciated!

My wife not comfortable putting our house as equity, therefore we are utilizing other options to fund investment properties. 

In Chicago you request a CHA Burden sheet and that gross number minus utility allowance will be what you get in addition to making sure bedroom size is adequate.  

Utilizing the VA loan is a good first step in terms of investing.

I talked to a modular home company in my area, and he said to build a 4 / 2.5 2200 square foot home would be 215k, and then foundation and utilities would be another 160k.

I would also try to minimize expenses through decreasing cleaning costs, installing smart tech like a thermostat to control utility costs, etc.5.