It's not difficult to find tenants if the property is marketed correctly.

Bigger Assignment FeesInstead of selling to investors looking for steep discounts, I market to end buyers willing to pay market price.

My suggestion would be to cap your utilities at a certain amount and have Tenants pay anything over that amount.That will help you manage your expenses, and also allow Tenants to gage their usage each month, and make adjustments if they don't want to go over the allotted amount.As far as collection, provide the bill showing any overages and just have them pay for it along with their rent. 

I might be a little jaded after years of hearing unbelievable excuses for why tenants can't pay rent.

The seller is willing to negotiate price, but I have to pay for all repairs upfront.

You take the div to pay on margin %, your sub 6%. 

If it is 10 days, tell her you will pay for the hotel (you pick), but that's it. 

Agree, it's doing nobody favors in my market; market rents here are barely enough to cover PITI in most cases when paying current valuations, not keeping pace with recent price increases. 

They could easily pay 50% two weeks early, then pay the other 50% on the first so they are always on time.

I would check the market conditions and calculate your numbers.