I rent out an apt/condo, I rent out the rooms.Utilities are included with the rent..When doing this it's important to put on lease your utility Caps and to be clear.For example for water my cap is $50 anything above it gets divided by 4 (each tenant)What I notice is very important to these tenants is high speed internet they typically don't even watch Cable TV.

One it could be destroyed and the owner could take a loss of rent on their insurance (if they have this included)Two, they could have the tenant vacate for the portion of time that they need to fix the property back to habitability.

I've spend the better part of this year reading numerous real estate investing books and listening to 200+ BP podcasts.

This is pretty basic stuff here.Do you think the hoa (which does include you) should be responsible if your 8 year old turns on the water in the tub, then let's it overflow for hours?

The second is non-recourse loans required by many states including here in Arizona.

This should all be included in closing documents..Owner give you copy of lease, addendums,  the amount of security deposit plus interest is paid to you within the closing fee's.. any rent is prorated to day of closing and is factored in closing fee's.  

Are you including every expense you'd see as a land lord in the $1023/mo ?

I've managed several properties that didn't have separate meters and typically I use the "all utilities included except internet and cable" as a major selling point for tenants.

Add a cast iron or aluminum fence around the pool for safety and charge rent high enough to include a pool company to maintain...maybe, I do not have a rental with a pool (above is our pool) but I could see it being quite a plus if safe and easy for tenants.

However, as you'll see in this rather dry IRS publication https://www.irs.gov/publications/p590b/ch02.html, you can avoid this 10% tax if you use the amount over your contribution for qualified exception, including the purchase of a first home.