New Student Rentals

[Ian Fernandez]

Good  business partner and I have recently bought a house that we plan on renting the five rooms to local students. We are debating whether or not to pay fornthe utilities or have the students pay the utilities. Does any have any suggestions?

Thank you,

Ian 

[Kevin Sobilo]

@Ian Fernandez, if you it to a group of roommates then they could put the utilities in their name and pay it themselves like any other roommates.

However, if you are renting by the room where each student has their own lease, then the utility bills need to remain in your name. Then the choice is whether to bake the utilities into the rent or bill them back each month to each student by splitting them evenly among the 5 students. That is a personal preference.

I would probably opt to bake it into the rental amount to keep things simple but also include a lease clause about wasting utilities. So, that if they have windows open during the January heating season that you can address it but this is a personal preference. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here.