Triplex with single meters looking to split or submeter

[Keoni Sanchez]

First time investor closing on a triplex in Allegheny County. Two of the units share the same meter for gas, electric, and water and the previous owner paid all utilities. My return numbers are still positive while paying for these utilities, but they look much better once I can split some or all of them and have the tenant pay for their portions. 

I am looking for some general advice on what my best course of action here would be. From what I have read submetering seems like my best bet, but I have no experience with that. Open to all recommendations, referrals, or cost estimates that I can factor into my estimates. Thank you in advance  

[Greg R.]

This is a tough one. I have a 3-unit property with single meters for gas, water, and electricity. I went through the trouble and expense of sub-metering everything. I had gas, water, and electric meters installed. My problem is that it's a genuine pain in the butt to go read meters every month. Further, you then have to calculate out usage against the rates, create invoices, send to the tenants, etc. It's just a massive pain.

We moved away from that and have now created a flat rate utility bill. For instance, we looked at 6-12 months of usage and were able to determine average costs. This allowed us to go in a direction of having our base monthly rent, and a flat rate utility bill that the tenant pays.We always add the caveat that if we start getting insane bills, we're going to have to recalculate and increase their utility bill.