Need suggestions on how to handle utility costs for house with "efficiencies"

[Allende Hernandez]

Good afternoon fellow investors,

I just closed on my first rental property, which consists of a main house with 3 attached smaller units (efficiencies) - this is very normal in this area- , everything is on one meter.

The previous owner used to live in the main house and therefore all utilities were included in the smaller units's rent payments. My plan is to also rent the main house so I don't have very clear how to handle it. The main house has a pool, so it adds complexity because of the increased water bill.

I have though of two options, one is to make the main house foot the bill, but that will surely cause me issues down the line when they start questioning the use of water and electricity of the other tenants.

The second option I thought of is to include all utilities also for the main house, so me footing the entire bill. This would allow me to raise the rent for the main house a bit over market but I'm concerned usage could get out of control and making my cashflow take an unpredictable hit.

Does anyone see other options here that may work better than the two above?

Thank you in advance!