All electric duplex - landlord pays all electric ?

[Stephen S.]

I am looking for some opinions (from all of you. <g>)

This all-electric duplex was owner & tenant occupied until now. Apparently there was some agreement between the former owner and the former tenant to sort out the electric bills between them. There is a single service and a single meter and no easy way to split the electric circuits inside the house. So . . . I ponder how to manage the electric bills.

What do you all think of the idea of me, as the landlord, simply paying for all the electric? On one hand I feel like it would create a serious dis-inventive to conserve electrical use by the tenants. <g> Although; me being a very clever mechanical contractor - I could fairly easily arrange to limit the use of the heat and A/C to sensible comfort levels. And in un-defeatable ways. <g>

I guess I could get the previous bills from the utility company, average them for the year, and using a per-square-foot basis; increase the monthly rent charge for each portion of the property to cover 110% of that cost. Not that it matters - but the 'apartment' sizes are about a 2/3 - 1/3 split

And of course; then I would re-assess at the end of each lease period to see if I was coming out at least even on the deal.

Do you think that advertising: "Landlord pays all utilities" or something like that, would create an added incentive in terms of renting the units? Even though, obviously; the rent would be higher than a comparable unit. <g>

Would you be willing to rent it as I've described?

Can you think of any better ways to manage the issue?

stephen

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