I regularly buy 80-120 year old buildings and the biggest expense I’ve had that was not planned for was putting in a new larger hot water heater in a location where the old one wasn’t quite keeping up.

Provide snacks, bottled water, premium coffee, s'more kits, maybe even a small gift. 

I'm just glad I was able to point it out to my clients before proceeding further, which could have led all parties into a sticky legal situation and me in hot water, like you mentioned. 

If you’re open to exploring different markets, Columbus, Ohio has been a really hot spot for both new construction and rentals because of the strong population and job growth, tons of companies expanding here like Intel, Amazon, Google, and Honda, and the numbers still make sense compared to most metros.

All this hype about Newark, NJ being the next gold mine in real estate wholesaling. Is this true all just full of hype. The city is RUN DOWN. All these wholesalers out here are Marketing/Pushing the same properties.. ...

The lease states the landlord is only responsbile for water only.

Certain areas are still hot so they can be picky but that's a small piece of the pie

Need to keep the following in mind: 1) You will need a good team including attorney, RE agents, handymen, etc.. at a minimum. 2) You will need to rely on these people from a distance. 3) A hot water heater or other repair items from a materials standpoint is going to cost relatively the same.

So, the water bills are tied to the owner or the property.

I'm not trying to be harsh, but "forcing" a deal has gotten me in hot water in the past.