David, you guys are ethical in your approach and business practices and I love that about you guys.

I know many are passionate about the real estate practice, I acknowledge that and am knocking it! 

Are there any practical methods for implementing usage-based billing without submetering?

In practicality, your lease is saying that you have the legal right to charge the rent up until you find a new tenant because you have a legal obligation to mitigate your losses.

Plus, it appeals to both investors and homeowners because of its practicality and aesthetic appeal.

So far, I have one lender with whom the HELOC convo was actually going well until the matter of the house being owned by a business came up; then she redirected me a commercial loan (which may be what happens).I understand you want to access the capital ASAP but I'd focus on getting it rented.That said, if you have the bandwidth, you could do both processes simultaneously.

I don't doubt the practicality and workmanship, however the design doesn't do it for me.

As standard practice I offer my best pricing the first time to not have to go back and fourth like a car salesman to win business.

It's just that those other agents didn't like their business practices.

I know for most this isn't practical, but for the one's that can do it-- do it.