All inclusive Rent?

[Sarah 'Sadika' J.]

Hello,

I just bought a house and was thinking of renting two of the other rooms. I was thinking of making rent all inclusive with rent, utilities, cable, internet, cleaning services and household common area shopping( toilet paper, soap etc). Is  this a good idea? Or am I going to be broke with this option?

Thank you

[Colleen F.]

Do not include use based utilities like electric or place a cap on them.   Basically weigh your administration cost versus whether it is a fixed expense.  For a $20.00 a month water bill I just use an excess use clause.   For fixed expenses they can easily be rolled into the rent.   Heavy use based expenses are harder and there should be a disincentive to a lot of use. Also is your tenant pool  a student for  a couple of semesters or a full time roommate.  For  a multi we have included heat and hot water but  I would not include electric ,  the ACs would go like crazy.