4-Plex on same Water Meter

[Rita Merlo]

I am buying my first multi-unit property; a 4 plex in Texas. There is only 1 water meter for the whole place, so the previous landlord has been paying the water bill. Water bill is about $150-$200 a month. Going forward, I do not want to pay the water bill. Any ideas on what would work best for this situation? Would I just make the property manager split the water bill between the 4 units (perhaps based on square footage)? Is there some device I could buy that separately meters the water usage? Should I charge a flat- fee for water? Just raise the rent? Would really appreciate your thoughts on this!

[Rick Martin]

@Rita Merlo find out if your competition in your area are doing a utility bill-back. If so, implement one yourself. If it is the case, give them notice, and if they start to call on the competition, they’ll find out that it is standard and they’ll stay put. It also has a green effect, because they will start using less water, once they find out that they are paying for it. If you just plan on raising the rents, again see where your competition is. You don’t want to set the bar for being the highest rent among the comps. If anything you want to be in the middle of the pack.