They only way they get away with such crap is because customers don't question their supposed authority on the topic. 

Generally water/sewer is combined,  so that generally makes it a landlord paid utility and chtge rent to offset. 

It seems the combination of Millennials seeing some of their parents experience the real estate crash as well as over $1 trillion still outstanding in student debt is having them delay the decision to buy.  

It all helped combined with listening to as many podcasts as possible.

I am co-principal of a relatively new architectural firm in Denver, Colorado (new as a company, but combined with my business partner we have 35 years experience).

Combine that with some raised rents and you would actually have a nice cash flowing property with high COC returns due to 100% financing.

It sounds like you bought a crap hole in the city of Atlanta for cheap.I really hope that's not the case.High taxes and bad rehab jobs make these properties real losers.I looked at the 2 years ago for a few months traveling all over the area.At the time they were priced at about 30,000 a house.I was looking at the area because my area in the burbs 45 minutes out was dropping but still at about 85,000 a property which was too high for me.Now in Atlanta some of these places are going for 5,000 and in my area which is much nicer has gone down to the 30's to 50's a property.I specifically do not buy older places in Atlanta.If you know the market there were these groups say 4 to 5 years ago.They came in and did hack jobs and then flipped these properties for crazy amounts.They took the money and ran making over 100k a property and the appraisers were involved to.They did nothing but put pretty lipstick on a turd.Now these properties have galvanized pipes,foundation issues,lead based paint,asbestos,mold,knob and tube wiring mix with current wiring,radon,etc.It sounds like with this turn key company they are padding fees on the back end.Real estate brokers that sold REO used to do this kind of stuff.They would only be making say 2% on the sale of the property.So for the trash out the REO broker would use a company that had ownership in and make up the money over billing the servicer or bank.This lasted for about 6 months to 1 year and banks caught onto it which is why they use third parties to ensure they get the best pricing now for all of the steps in selling an REO.Anytime I hear "turn-key" I would run away.I have not had experience with them but have heard nightmare story after nightmare story on here.It sounds easier for a company to dupe an out of state investor than one on the ground that can watch what they are doing like a hawk.This property management company knows they are padding.Why else would they put a clause if you cancel you pay all of this money??

Man this post has more crap than a loaded diaper :roll:

Combine that with the " 10% mover coupon" mentioned above and you've got yourself a solid savings of 18-20%.I know it may seem like a hassle for big time investors but for the modest DIY rehabber/investor the savings can really add up quick.

I think I'd try a combination of lowering rents in exchange for them paying the utilities when existing tenants come up for renewal, and trying for slightly higher rents for new tenants.Trouble is if all the other units in the area are heat included, I think prospective tenants will pass up your units.