Tenant utility respnsibilities in a semi-owner occupied MIL

[Joseph Delia]

I may be overthinking this, but I thought it best to call on the infinite wisdom of the awesome BP community.

I just purchased an out of state SFH with separate entry MIL basement suite. It's a major city where I do a lot of business so I'm giving serious thought to keeping the MIL suite for myself (avoiding hotel expenses that I otherwise might have to charge to my clients, and making my life easier) and renting out the rest of the home. The home is in a killer school district where new development is not really possible, so there is a ton of demand to buy/rent in this neighborhood. Even better, this particular home has a pleasant 5 min walk to the elementary school. I mention this only to give perspective that I should have no problems renting the rest of the home even though the owner (me) maybe sometimes living in the basement MIL suite.

So here's my predicament.  I don't want to pay any utilities, including cable/internet, even my "ratio". For one, I don't want the hassle of thinking about them (whether by receiving bills at the address in my name, nor having the tenant telling me each month how much I owe them).  For another, my occupancy of the MIL is so unpredictable and sporadic that it is hard to develop any rationale for the portion I should pay even if I wanted to do so (but it would definitely be less than the sq ft proportion).

So, I was thinking of just laying it on the line for prospective tenants, "yes, you will pay all electric/gas/water/cable/trash, and yes that includes for the MIL suite, but I will pay landscaping ($200/mth) and pest control spraying ($30-$50/mth)".

It probably wouldn't deter the discovery of a decent tenant, but I'm fearful I'd be planting the seed for some amount of resentment, whereas if I were to communicate (or treat) the situation differently, maybe I could avoid and have a nice Kumbaya relationship.

Any ideas on how I could best handle this situation?  Any of you dealt with any remotely similar situations?