We are often able to keep turn over costs in the $500 -$1000 range and that is for larger 2500 sf + single family homes, some of which have two story great rooms.My PM fees vary based on how many units an owner is giving me, and where the property is located etc, but are more than what you're paying but I probably include a lot more services.I offer performance guarantees, but there is no way I would have a Management Agreement that just allowed an owner to walk - they would owe me the remainder term fees if that happened.There is no way I would as an investor, pay tenant utilities at all - if the utilities were not separately metered, I would first determine if I could legally charge the tenants for the utilities in your area or I would not buy the property.There are many things you can do in a lease to protect yourself and reduce your costs (and that may be an issue with your PM's lack of experience - or it could be that your state is very landlord unfriendly) but here are a few items I would have in the lease if allowed in your area:The tenant must thoroughly clean the unit including any carpeting at move-out - we have a detailed example list of tenant cleaning responsibilities in our tenant handbook.We only accept the most financially highly qualified tenants, and often have tenants renew leases, but if a tenant wants or needs to break their lease early, there is a multi month Early Termination fee to help us defray off market time and turnkey make-ready costs due to early termination.Our tenants are responsible for both Pest/insect control and exterior landscape upkeep - though in an inner city townhouse/triplex set up tenant responsible landscape may not be feasible.

Tuckpointing requires setting up scaffolding, then cleaning and pointing, and then tear down scaffolding.

There’s higher quality vinyl which will be heavier, use better dyes, and will last longer.

The deposit is your leverage to ensure they pay last month's rent and leave the place clean.

I put about $300K of rehab into it, lots of sweat equity and now the building is worth $1.2M with quality tenants that pay on time every month. 

At the very least have conversations on the phone.That being said with new types of securities exemptions 506 (c), Reg A+ and CF now available there are significantly more opportunities to reach new investors who are in return trying to find quality sponsors.

I have automated the cleaning and check in/out process.

Now my sweet spot is bringing the exterior up to current park standards and cleaning and getting the interior "ready for rehab".

In our office, we try to get our homes to a "hotel clean" or "hospital clean" condition.

I have been very fortunate since the crash to learn from a number of high quality investors such as @Chad Carson.