Rentals with Google Fiber

[Andrew Cross]

Hello, I'm preparing to be a new landlord in the KC Metro. The property we are currently purchasing has the option of having google fiber hooked up for it. Have any other SFH landlords hooked up google fiber for their homes. I don't mind paying the construction fee, but who is responsible for Google's equipment and what is downloaded while on the network?

[Account Closed]

Never heard of it.  Sounds like another potential maintenance issue, though, so unless your tenant pool demands it, I wouldn't do it.

[Al Williamson]

@Andrew Cross nope, I don't have Google Fiber - but I would jump at the chance. Many, maybe most, landlords would steer clear of providing any out of the box perks. I'm so grateful for that because it limits my competition and allow me to charge higher than prevailing market rents.

I love the fact the most want to be as passive as possible. I understand that. However there is a strong and growing market for housing as a SERVICE over a mere rental. The Millinials are coming.

Internet - fast internet - will become like indoor toilets. You're going to have to have it.

Be an early or late adopter - it all depends on your business plan and clientele.

Best to you.

[James Wise]

@Andrew Cross

Welcome to the site.

I have never heard of google fiber. What is it?

What is the cost to install it?

[Red Brown]

@James Wise

https://fiber.google.com/about/

It's only in certain areas. 

[James Wise]

Interesting. The race on the website is a little suspect though. 

10Mbps is a lot faster then the demonstration. I regularly stream video with 10Mbps with no problems.

Don't think it's going to help you get any more rent out of your house right now is it's new and relatively unknown. 

Might be a nice thing to have for down the road, especially when it comes time to sell the home.

[Andrew Cross]

Thank you very much for the feedback.  I spoke with a google rep last night and was told I can either pay the construction up front, then let the tenant request the hardware to be able to connect to the internet from google, however if the tenant opts to go with the gigabit or +TV package, then construction cost is typically waived (which means my construction fee I'm willing to pay would be a waste).  Think I may offer to pay either the construction fee for free internet or maybe 2 months worth of the premium package if they opt to go that route.  Would still be interested to see how other landlords/property managers handle this.

[Elizabeth Colegrove]

I would be careful because I know in my market you can only charge so much back to the tenant. Thy won't look at houses above x no matter what's included. So even if it's all inclusive they won't even look at the houses. Just my experience in my market

[Chris Simmons]

I would just treat it like any other utility, cable provider or alarm monitoring.  Allow tenants to set it up in their name etc.  If there is some construction cost that you are willing to share or pay fully, that is your call.  Service needs to be in their name and their bill, not yours.  If you are doing an all bills paid option, then things are different.

[Salvador Marin]

@Andrew Cross @Al Williamson

I am from CA and have been following Google Fiber since construction started. I am going to be moving to the KCMO soon and I've got to say, I won't even look at a place that doesn't have Google Fiber. I know a lot of other Millennials that feel the same. Here's the thing though, we don't expect it to cost more for the rents. We expect it to be the new standard. 

It will make sense that rents will rise in the beginning but once it is pervasive enough you will no longer be able to charge a premium for it. Most places I have called in the area already have Google Fiber. This typically means that places without Google Fiber are actually dropping rents to stay competitive. Prices of course go up for properties located in central / downtown KCMO for obvious reasons. A 2b1b at the Power and Light is north of $2000 but just go a few minutes south outside downtown and you can find a 2b1b for $1600. 

Personally I'm going with a 3b2b townhouse in the Briarcliff area north of North KC for around $1400, and yes, it has Google Fiber otherwise I wouldn't even consider it.

[Brandon Holley]

@Andrew Cross

I live in a Google Fiberhood, I would absolutely pay the $300 construction fee for a guaranteed 7 years free internet. That what I actually chose to do for my own home. 

If the tenant wants to bump the services up to the $120 tv package or the $70 gigabit option, then they can pay you directly for those. Google operates on a month to month basis. So you can change back to the "free" option whenever you want.

@chris simmons 

This is one utility that I would keep control of. Google is pretty firm about setting up your account and leaving it as is in regards to names/payment method/responsibility. It's not like the local gas company that's setup for landlords. You do have complete control of it and it's monthly, so if your tenant stops paying for the services you can simply turn it back down to the free option. (not an attorney, not legal advice) 

Let me know if I can help in anyway. 

[Andrew Cross]

Thank-you everyone for the all the information.  

I should have updated this with what I ultimately did earlier.  I went ahead and setup fiber at the house, which ended up being a big selling point as it's essentially a free utility for my tenants.  I created a new email address just for the unit since I couldn't attach it to my own email (I already have a google fiber account for my primary residence and you can't attach your email to multiple locations).  Once I found a suitable tenant, I just transferred responsibility to the tenant's gmail account, google was very helpful in doing so.  

My primary concern was if the tenant downloaded some illegal music or something else I could be fined for or the fiber equipment could be damaged, under this arrangement, I am not in charge of the account used to login to manage the google fiber connection or the equipment that's used at the residence.

Hope that helps anyone interested in doing so themselves.