part of your responsibility is at move in to show them how things work,, how to turn on the heat, how the smoke detector works, how to provided a toilet plunger with the apartment so if they have a minor toilet clog they can fit it themselves,, and show how to use it, where the electrical panel is an how to reset a breaker,.... the stuff ordinary people would understand but renters aren't always ordinary people.Get a system for contact for repair requests,, have them text or leave on voice mail ,, don't go and answer each call right off the bat,, give a thought... call back and try and trouble shoot with them over the phone... as for toilet and drain clogs I'd let them know if plumber comes out for service if it is found that clog is from food, toys in toilet,, or grease they will be charged a service call. some use a form for this at move in. 

So, in reality, you're going to have to put in 1/4 of certain expenses, like utilities, on the back end of these analyses (Uncle Sam wouldn't like it if you tried to expense all of the utilities to the other 3 units and get your own personal heat and electricity as a tax-deductible expense anyway...).

We have done  rentals rhat are  2 or 1 of 3 bedrooms for transfering professionals, the rate is submarket but you get a higher quality tenant and the heat paid.

And if you do rent, a property manager or super that is local is always helpful, even if you can hire someone on an "as needed" basis to take the late night "my heat isn't working" calls, that alleviates a huge amount of pressure from an out of state landlord.  

Here is an example from our core rental agreement:MAINTENANCE OF PREMISES.Landlord will maintain all electrical, plumbing, heating, and other facilities and appliances supplied by Landlord in reasonably good working order.Landlord will perform periodic inspections of the premises, no less than once a year, for the purpose of property maintenance and repair.Landlord will notify Tenant in advance of the inspection.

Finally found this crazy small 700 square foot home at 22 University Court in Normal, IL. 2 bed/1 bath Closed yesterday:Paid $74,500Monthly rent = $1,000if I use a Property Management company I should cash flow $372.67if I foolishly try to PM it myself it can cash flow $472.67 - but I live an hour 45 minutes from here so I doubt I'll be doing that.Cash on Cash ROI is 5.56% While most families would NOT want to live in such a TINY HOME - it's ideal for college students as they will have low cooling/heating expenses from such a small dwelling.  

Baseboard heat, or baseboard trim?

Most of the companies that were doing it were fly by night concerns and reselling the old heating oil.You need to be informed about tanks here in NJ.  

I have no idea how you guys get your tenants to agree to pay toward repairs on your properties, appliances and heating systems.

That won't effect rent if the heat isn't free anymore?