New Sheriff in Town... too much change all at once??

[Michael J. Beasley]

Hey all, I'm looking into buying a 3-unit multi family home. As of right now, two of the units (a duplex) have utilities covered in their rent. It's a 2br/1bath and a 4br/1.5bath and tenants pay $650 and $550 respectively... that's right, the 4br pays $550, with gas, electric, and water included!! The listing agent said that tenant does snow removal and takes care of the property. From the photos of the place, he keeps the apartment nice and I understand he's a long time tenant. I think he has a some kids based on the photos. I'm going to look at the place tomorrow.

I could either raise the rents super high to cover my utility costs or pay to split the meters for gas and electric and have all of the tenants pay their own utilities. But I still would look to raise the rents closer to meet market demand. Would it be too much change to tell the duplex tenants "Your rent is going up... oh, and also, you're going to start paying utilities."

Any advice from savvy investors would be greatly appreciated :-)