I travel to a lot of the smaller towns/cities around Edmonton with my work so I'm also looking at stuff a bit farther out where prices are lower but the cities are big enough to have a solid pool of renters.That sounds like a pretty attractive strategy.  

@Myo Thein suggest depending on value and equity either looking at other areas on BC to invest but by the time you travel, find something etc. it may have costed you thousands already.

I separated the gas & electric for each of my 5 units, then installed sub-meters for the water after the main water meter.Gas and electric are in the names of the tenants and I add their water usage each month to their rent statement.I did this over time...

I spent about 10 hours a year on each unit, and when I travel I use a 24 hour handyman service.  

I have to travel about 5 hours round trip to get to either, but I usually spend from $1K to $5K per trip. 

Managing an out of state property is a definite option for me, however it is very difficult to travel to different parts of the country just to look at possible investments.  

But that means traveling if you're out of state, which will almost certainly cost close to or as much as any judgement.

But we do travel further for some of our clients.  

I'm full time employed but when I'm not traveling, I'm driving for dollars.  

The alternative is having the owner call the utility company and provide a deposit then get billed for usage and have the deposit returned by check once the new tenant takes over service.In my opinion, It is only a good idea to rent furnished homes when the property is a short term rental, executive/luxury home, or a student rental and you don't care what happens to the furniture.