There are a lot of ways to skin the cat, the best outcome for you is knowing all the angles and choosing the most appropriate to YOUR situation.Along the same line of thought, For the HVAC unit, Assuming the tenant is paying the utilities.

Without letting the insurance company know that he will be the one doing my work, I plan to utilize his expertise and know that he won't lead me in the wrong direction.

What value do they receive by setting up a business utilizing that model?

I wanted to know what the best wording for my lease to protect me if I'm paying the utilities?

Questions like: how long their units have been vacant, do you or the residents pay utilities, how many tours have you been giving each week, how much is your application fee, etc.You can obviously customize the questions to fit your needs.

These include (but not limited to) mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, utilities, HOA fees, etc. that occur during the Rehab period and up until the property is fully rented.2. 

I also ask about the utilities and which are on separate meters.

As long as I’m in LA with decent Tenants paying the total mortgage and utilities I’m perfectly fine with anything I can get “easily.”

I know many investors that do great with SFRs.One huge benefit is that you can offload ALL expenses, like lawn care, snow removal, and all utilities.

It’s probably easier to just raise the rents to cover your utility costs or look into electric heat pumps.