I think you should be able to have the utilities turned off, but depending on where the property is located, you'll need to prevent the pipes from freezing.

Get an exterminator service when you get moved in and keep it going, this is good preventative maintenance. 

If you have tenants who clog your drains, get rid of them (it is a law here that tenants must not clog drains).Water, the most destructive force on the planet, the stuff the pipes are intended to carry away in the first place, will clean the lines as it goes my friend.

Remember, proper preparation prevents poor performance. 

Legal documentation is meant to prevent those misunderstandings, and I care about my friendship with this person so I'm going to respect both of us by mitigating the risks to the friendship via legal documentation. 

What happened that caused me stress and what can I do to prevent that in the future. 

For me it would be legal issues that would prevent financing or the possibility of reselling. 

Make sure there are not covenants that would prevent you from renting it out.In addition to understanding the tenant-landlord laws and getting a lease or rental agreement in place, below are the landlord responsibilities we outline to the tenant. 

Even if it doesn't, it can prevent her from holding on even longer.

So to prevent flooding the market with people who are only interested in the MLS and not selling houses you had to be affiliated with a firm.