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Updated about 11 years ago,
Living with tenants and dealing with utilities
So my wife and I came up with this kooky idea to build a cottage in the backyard in which we'd live so we can rent out our main house. The main house is 2br/1ba 970sqft. The cottage is 250sqft.
We're not quite sure how to deal with the gas and electric bill. Here are some options:
1 - Gas and electric is included in rent
2 - We split the bill (for example: tenant pays 2/3, we pay 1/3)
3 - Tenant pays total bill
#1 doesn't sound appealing. We use VERY little gas and electricity, and we're afraid a typical tenant will be cranking out the watts and therms. #2 sounds good, but we're not sure if this kind of thing is normal/legal in California. #3 sounds even better, but not sure the tenant would like paying for us and the whole potential for legal issues.
What option would you choose and why?