Keeping that in mind, I am considering increasing rents on my two single family rentals in the Omaha city limits by $15 a month once the leases come up for renewal to cover the cost.

There are other fees assessed based on turnover, for example lease renewals have a fee ($150), marketing and lease starts have a separate fee.

I signed a commercial lease for one year, auto renewal after one year, but could leave lease with notice after each year is complete.

If the units are rented, you will need to wait for the lease to come up for renewal. 

Once leveraged fully, since I usually do 2-3 year variable rate mortgages with automatically readvancing revolving (heloc) portions I simply renew the mortgage to the full balance.

I was a real estate broker in NC from 2002-2008 then moved to NY in 2008 (no reciprocity so I didn't renew license) and settled down with a W-2 job.

Young people can be into conservation and being "green" - something you can check out about them up front; if they have chosen an electric supplier that uses renewable sources (ask to see an electric bill when you get their application) they are into conservation.Since those bills come monthly, I don't foresee a huge water bill like what was just posted in another post.

Your loan is also quite different, usually a 20 year loan that will adjust or renew every 5 years or so. 

A good practice is to list the security deposit on account on all renewals.

They want at end of the lease term for the loan value to be lower than the dark value so if tenant does not renew the option or you can't find new tenant then they can foreclose and be made whole on the loan liquidating the property.