From the title, I thought you were asking what a tenant should do before moving in, not what a landlord/PM should do before the tenant moves in.For the tenant, they need to get utilities put in their name and show proof of that before they are given the keys.

I'm excited to see what others say here.But in my situation, I've had several very successful mentors tell me to strive to build some sort of steady active income and then utilize that to buy rental properties.

One thing I would say to be careful with is paying utilities for tenants.

Pros: Gas is very efficient, so it can reduce your utility bill significantly over electric or oil furnaces.

If you decide to refinance and pull equity, you won't be able to utilize the 5:1 ratio which your cash should be providing you.As for which path is better is a highly personal one.

I have the tenants leave utilities on in their name too until re-rent but you do run a risk in winter in MA with this unless you have leave on for landlord activated. 

The students also pay the utilities which gets divided at the end of the month.

Also, do not rely on the rapid increases resulting from COVID; these increases are not sustainable.

PITI, repairs, capex, vacancy, utilities, etc.

If not, if I report the Airbnb revenue as schedule E on 2021 years tax returns will I be able to utilize the tax return to bring down my DTI?