They don't always read the meter and often estimate based off the usage at the same time last year.

Got an accepted offer but I’m curious what thoughts are on having a rental with a natural wood fireplace or what would you do to ensure safe or no usage.

4 days of usage vacant  1100 square foot house 

Tyring to understand from operational point, wouldnt this be challenging getting tenants to pay for utilities under RUBS as they could still challenge on usage and billing.

I have isolated all the water lines for my units but haven't figured out if I should call the water company and have them sell me water meters or if there is a water meter I can buy online that possibly hooks up to wifi to report usage.

Parking is another consideration, as is refrigerator storage and common areas usage. 

Like only $25 a month for usage/$10 fixed cost. 

The statement was that it would be impossible to bill each tenant appropriately based upon usage and would probably be best to cover the expense.

They don't work for us agents, BUT there can be a lot of "you scratch my back I'll scratch yours"-ism in the industry and you could be picking up on that relationship as you observe the relationship between the agent and the inspector.In general if I don't have a trusted inspector in a market I'll default to using a Pillar to Post inspector, since they have fantastic training protocols and have a much higher bar of excellence than the average inspector on the market. 

Thank you for making an inappropriate joke on an otherwise innocent article.