First Rental Property listing questions

[Christopher Hu]

Hi everyone! I'm getting ready to list my first large property with 3 separate units (Main Unit, ADU, DADU) on a SFH. As Landlords I'm curious to get your take on the below:

-Which utilities (Electric, Water/Sewer, Trash, Internet) do you usually have your tenant pay in addition to base rent? And if so, how do you divide this out - I have a separate meter for the DADU but I don't think I can divide it for the Main Unit & ADU. Or do you just add more to the rent to cover for this?

-As the Landlord do you set up Cable TV & internet for your tenants? Or do you allow them to set up and pick their choice?

-Do you require tenants to have renters insurance?

[Brandon Vukelich]

Hey Christopher,

Regarding utilities, if they are not on separate meters, I highly encourage implementing RUBS for w/s/t. This has become very commonplace in the Seattle area (I'm assuming your property is there) for many years. Either a percentage, based on # of occupants per unit, unit size, etc. I'm not a fan of just including a flat fee in rent. Tenants are more invested in conserving water if they see a pro-rated bill each month. Otherwise, nothing to stop them from taking 5 showers a day and running 10 loads of laundry. A flat $50/month wouldn't recapture the usage.

We rarely see cable/internet provided. Let the cable company chase the tenant for payment of that service.

Yes, require renters insurance. 

Also if you are selling, hopefully your agent has advised you but good practice to have a vacant unit to open the buyer pool to owner-occupied buyers/house hackers. If all three units are on long-term leases that don't expire soon, you'll likely exclude many potential buyers. Best wishes on the sale!