How to Split Utilities in a Triplex

[Daniel Kalam]

Greetings All,

I own a triplex and this summer I am working on getting it renovated so that it will be profitable and run itself. As of now utilities (electricity, water, gas and sewage) are a flat rate of $100 per unit which is tacked onto the rent. This is not working for the utilities are eating up the rental income (in addition to the mortgage). There is/are one water line/meter from the city, one gas line/meter from Xcel, and three electrical meters from Xcel. I will most definitely get the tenants to go to Xcel for electricity once I can confirm that the units are split up correctly circuit wise. However water and gas are trickier for the property has central plumbing with two water heaters and a central boiler system for heating. I am leaning heavily towards doing submetering of gas and water on the property and billing the tenants back based on the usage. I like this idea for it gives me peace of mind but it has a heavy up front cost. It would involve installing new dedicated water pipes per unit, three combi water heaters (to replace the two conventional water heaters and the central boiler), and three gas and water meters. I can afford it but it would be anywhere from 14k to 21k depending on who I go with. This is not bad but it will definitely take away from my budget to improve the interior of one unit that will be vacant this month in addition to installing a mini split system in each unit and possibly getting a new walkway and fence. I am also considering maybe readjusting the flat rate to cover the usage but I don't like this idea for I feel like it has failed me already. Additionally, I could split the bill based on number of people and bill back accordingly but I feel like I would get some complaints. Any advice would be appreciated, and I really do like the submetering idea but I am open to other ideas as well.