It won't really save you any money on the purchase but it will save you money if you have to ever pay the utilities, and it will save the tenant money and be a more comfortable heat.

You seem like a more sophisticated investor who understands the question of the health of the general economic atmosphere.  

Or is there a more creative way to have a bank loan me money for my first property?

This might be a good opportunity to get out from that and get into a more stable asset, in terms of holding and gaining value.

While I am still alive (and investing), I would recommend a more conservative approach to start.

Maybe it would be a better move to just buy the property outright and rent back to her, that way it's a more straight forward transaction. 

If your just looking for a more basic electric rent collection and maybe some property management features I'd look into either Cozy, RentRedi, or TenantCloud each have their pros and cons depending on what your looking for.  

If you would like to go ahead and do a more of a true partnership, then perhaps still go with 50/50.

Speak with a mortgage broker before you shop more to get a more realistic idea of what you are actually going to be able to purchase.

A more important assessment from you post is why are you not doing your own PM.