That gas bill can wipe out more than your monthly revenue over the winter.Are you in a high tax area, like Cincinnnati seems the be?  

Don’t care who did it and why, get rid of it.Now here’s the kicker, if you or your repair or maintenance people take care of it, they can report everything to you, which helps you prove the tenant is at fault or caused the problem, so then you can........hold your horses....hold your hat on...bill him!!!!!!!

They may get a partial refund or they may get a bill.

when you pull the information on the properties look for a tax mailing address that is different from the subject address this will let you know the building is not owner occupied, it will also give you the address that they are receiving the tax bill at in most cases this search will also yield the name of the owner. 

I an thinking that using the parent to pay the bills, taxes, insurance, etc will give me another level of distance in case of a lawsuit. 

When you have a sizeable down payment and good credit, there are numerous loan options for cash flowing rental properties, even when you don't have a job.  

While there are bills that are trying to be passed to increase the responsibility of owners, they are currently decent to investors.

Turnkey rentals are pretty passive, but you need to make sure you're paying your taxes, insurance, utility bills (this can creep up on you if your tenant stops paying the bills), and managing the property manager.

Also, check to see if the property tax bill has been paid or if you will be on the hook for it.

Let me give you an example:Say you have 100k in savings and 10k a month in extra income with your monthly bills being 4k (gross monthly income of 14k).