This is obviously a gross injustice, but what can a landlord do to protect themselves from a big potential problem if for some reason a tenant uses a ridiculous amount of water and then does not pay the water bill?

If I decided to scrap the whole idea and just get a big umbrella policy with the exception of gross negligence are there really very many situations where the umbrella policy wouldn't hold up?

On a $1,500 rental you are going to usually pay 1 month's rent for them to place a tenant - then 8-10% GROSS rent per month.  

They look at gross rents, debt payments, etc.

Even worse, they may have bought at a significantly lower price to the point where you'd be negative cash flowing if you made the same gross revenue.When you do find people that are able to help, you've gotta ask for actual numbers that you can underwrite with.

When you say 90 percent of Listing Price is what they will accept during the first time around, do you mean this as their net or gross?

8-10% monthly of gross rent

The average gross rental yield in Q4 23 was 5.65% so the CAP rate was way below that.

Typically, short term vacation rental management in our area of coastal Oregon can typically range from 20-35% of the gross revenue!?

If she gets a basic job, rent would easily be less than 30% of gross).