But with the VRBO renters, it doesn't appear that I have that sort of flexibility to write in the utility contingency.I'm considering putting in a NEST thermostat in the house and a remote pool pump monitor so I can keep an eye on where renters have set the temps?  

You could also make it a smart house in which you can see if someone is there and monitor the AC, turning it off when it isn't rented right through your cell phone, etc.  

Monitor your accounts though (which you should be doing anyway).

I am also monitoring another HUD property that I’m considering as an investment property, i need to wait a few more days before it opens up for the investors.

You were told to be able to monitor your investment in real time.

As a landlord I would most likely collect what the market collects.I am limited to 1 and 1/2 months deposit and quite frankly if all that money is used for repair then I have done a number of things wrong in vetting my tenants and monitoring my property. 

I haven't found any "plug and play" meters for an already existing heating system - I imagine you'd need to monitor gas consumption, and each unit's thermostat would meter the valve.

They going to go under there and monitor which one is running more?

In Washington I was monitoring rates for 6 months before and Navy FCU was always the lowest so I am going through Navy FCU they go up to 95% at 8% interest only payments for 20 yrs then it turns to installment laon for next 20yrs.

The combination of those searches, along with my own monitoring of Zillow, realtor.com, and Trulia seems to be getting me pretty up-to-date MLS information.