Splitting utilities on a single family home w/ basement suite

[Shawn Hochhausen]

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of building a single family home with a basement suite in Edmonton, Alberta as my very first real estate purchase.  I intend to hold this long term as a rental property.  My big dilemma is how to split utilities. I can get each unit metered separately at a cost of 5 000 dollars which would be 25 dollars a month on the mortgage ( 5%down/25years/3%financing).  The total cost of the house will be around 400 000 dollars and could bring in rents of 1700 + utilities upstairs and 700 + utilities downstairs.  I am wondering if that extra cost (25/month) is worth saving the hassle/risk of the other two options? 

1. Include utilities in the rent with the risk of personally paying for over usage.

2. Having upstairs and downstairs tenants split 60/40 which leaves potential for dispute on who used what and also a less appealing rental. 

Any help is much appreciated!!

[Matthew Paul]

Separate meters , separate heating and cooling systems from the start