Remain responsible for rent, utilities, and other terms until a replacement tenant takes over.#2 can be a bad option in the middle of winter when renters are harder to find.

Rent out part of the space at least to help pay for mortgage and utilities.  

This step would include understanding City zoning & platting, locating utilities, researching City codes for development requirements (big ones include detention), etc. 

A realtor who used to have a PM company called "JBS Realty" until this month.He used to manage 8 of my properties and is currently refusing to pay out multiple 5-figures worth of rents/property reserves/security deposits/unpaid utility bills owed. 

My question is - what is the best strategy for utilizing my home equity and buying my first rental?

Especially if you get a long term resident in the ADU and then you might can utilize them to help on your turns of the MTR. 

I then spent a majority of my free time learning as much as I could on the different styles and strategies that have been utilized in the past, reading everything from Lynch’s One Up on Wall Street to Graham’s Security Analysis, to learning how to build out financial models in excel.

Most real estate property syndicates utilize 50% or more leverage.  

I've been looking to branch out to a few different areas on the East Coast that would necessitate a property manager but Texas and its heavy investment in business, including the major tech investments in the works around Sherman are very intriguing.

I hired a GC to manage the build out, but there has been no consensus on who is responsible for the utility payments (Water and Energy).