Who & How Are Utilities Paid?

[Aaron Krawitz]

Good morning!

I'm new to REI and spending most of my free time reading and digesting information (currently reading @Brandon Turner's Real Estate Investment book).

I built a spreadsheet that lets me calculate cash on cash ROI so I can test sample homes to understand the impact of certain expenses, but one expense I'm struggling to understand are utilities. I have a few questions that I'm hoping the folks on BP can answer!

1. Does the landlord or tenant traditionally pay utilities? 
2. If the tenant pays utilities, is that amount rolled up into the rent or paid separately?
3. When listing a rental property on any MLS website, would the $$$/month include the utilities?
4. If this is a contract-by-contract basis, what method do you use to manage utilities?
5. Is there a good way to estimate total utility costs? (Electric, gas, water, sewage, etc)

If it helps, I'm located out of Houston Texas. Thanks!