Almost everything in real estate is negotiable. Smoking ? Pets ? Who pays for utilities, repairs, appliances etc.
Generally is landlords duty to keep house up to code and liveable condition.
Who pays for water,trash, cable, yard maintenance etc is whatever you work out.

When you want tenant to pay for water, many times they won’t water the yard. KNOW THE LAWS in your state

Late charges, Amount of deposit that you can request and whether or not you need to keep in a separate account and pay interest to the tenant will be dictated by state law.
Also what you can charge for when they vacate.

Take lots of pictures or video of the condition of the property when they take possession.

You need fire and liability insurance. Encourage tenant to get "renter’s insurance" You will need to get a Landlord’s policy and they may want to know if there is a dog on the property.

Screen tenants by looking at their credit report, and I would not rent to anyone who has been ever evicted for ANY reason.
Check references well. Assume that they are lying to you until you can prove it.

Use the best legal rental agreement that you can get for your state. A realtor may be able to supply you with what they use, it’s probably the best in your state for the landlord.

Try to rent to a family rather than roommates or boyfriend/girlfriend. Don’t be shy in asking for an application fee to run their credit, or have them provide you with a current copy run free at http://www.annualcreditreport.com

Ask for their ID’s when submitting the application. You don’t want to rent to Bonnie& Clyde.

Check references, and hope that it isn’t their friends or family covering for them, or their previous landlord lies to get rid of them.

Don’t let them control the relationship. If they cannot pay, serve them a 3 day notice and follow through quickly, evict if you have to. RENT comes first, or they go.

KNOW THE LAWS. Keep your fingers crossed.

I probably forgot to mention something.

If you don’t want to deal with it all yourself, consider a professional property manager that knows how to screen tenants and knows the laws and regulations.
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