I would like to piggyback on this and see how many people monitor and update their duplex, fourplex, type units with the latest smoke & carbon monoxide detectors?

. $240 on Amazon, but you only have to buy it once.We've tried the Nest in two of our properties - the proprietary nature of their interface made them difficult to integrate with our management & monitoring system.That said, there are other thermostats which provide a minimum and maximum temperature (regardless of what the occupant chooses) at a fraction of the price (Honeywell, Braeburn and {I think} Sinopé provide models with this feature).   

we are closely monitoring this unit and area but mostly have decided to exit this location by next year.

I was a little inclined to kick back and trust the originator to work it out, but based on your feedback I'm gonna monitor things more closely and will definitely be on it if we haven't locked in the next week.I found the bankrate site listing 3 month trends in interest rates.

You could possibly get motion activated battery powered cameras (game cameras) to monitor property.

There's usually good locals that monitor it and can make good local suggestions.  

Friends of ours have had to replace brand new sofas in their vacation properties after that week due to … questionable damage.I've found that you can see some significant challenges when it comes to managing bookings for rental homes in destinations that attract a crowd that might like to party (re: Gulf Coast).There are some risks associated with renting in this area, including a higher risk of cancellation, a higher potential for parties and disturbances, along with a greater risk for property damage or even theft.But as the owner/investor of a vacation rental, you can mitigate and sidestep many of these problems by using the right property management firm to handle your guest bookings, guest vetting, and property maintenance and monitoring.

I was told I need to pay some company an annual fee to monitor it (surprise surprise ...fees everywhere). 

There are usually some good, local investors that monitor those forums.

We also include Internet and "television" (along with a flatscreen television in each lounge/living room) in our offering and just bake it all into the rent.This does not mean that we do not monitor and endeavour to control resource consumption - we are always making improvements to the building envelope; have installed LED lighting; use low-flow plumbing fixtures; have programmable thermostats and our own building monitoring system.Our objective is to provide our student tenants with a quiet, healthy accommodations complete with all the needed amenities at a cost which is less than a residence room at the university itself.In that light, @Al Williamson is steering you in the right direction - provide them with amenities not at your cost, but at a cost less than they could procure the service themselves.