One Water Meter Dilemma in Tampa

[Stephanie Wells]

Buying a duplex in Ybor with 1 water meter. My cash flow is stretched super thin on this one and I’d like to be able to bill the tenants for water based on how many people are occupying each unit. Is this legal in Tampa or do I need to just guesstimate water usage and include it in rent? My other option is to try out Air B&B on the 1/1 and see if I can cash flow better that way, but I’m a little scared the area won’t do well until more development happens. Help!

[Theresa Harris]

I would suggest you bill them based on actual usage.  One person on BP mentioned billing part of the usage to avoid the argument that one side used more than the other.  So if the water bill is $200 per month and you have 4 people on one side and 2 on the other, instead of doing 2/3 and 1/3, do 60% and 30% (a slight reduction).  For the remaining 10% estimate usage and factor that into the price of rent (without telling the tenants that) when you list the units for rent.