There’s always more to the story and it would be almost inconceivable to think a landlord would charge this to a deposit in a liberal state without having some inside reason to do so

I do know our local companies charge nothing upfront except a small advertising fee, and then take 30% of the total receipts.

As an alternative, what about charging a fee to for additional pick-ups over a certain amount each week? 

Ask how many points he charges and how much the "junk fees" are.

The post office should send you a card and charge you 50 cents or so for their new address, or the mail comes back as undelivered.

Determining whether a property will be worth my time and money and will cash flow is dependent on a few numbers including the ARV of the property and the rent I will be able to charge, but finding these numbers has proven difficult.

Owning a total of at least 16 units will make any unoccupancy, especially unexpected, will make any less painful. 

(d) A public or private water supplier shall not impose a lien against real property to secure unpaid charges for water furnished unless the owner of such real property is the person who incurred the charges and shall not deny water services when such a lien has been extinguished.

Basically double charge?

If I did not clean it up, PM will be very slow to have their contractor to clean, and will charge me.