Turning on water in your newly rented property

[Courtney Downtain]

Hi BP team! I have an empty rental property in Houston TX that I am currently rehabbing. It will be done very soon and I am curious as to what options I have regarding the water. I opted out of turning it on during the rehab because it’s expensive in this neighborhood. That means that the faucets I have replaced haven’t been tested yet to make sure they work properly. Now, what I want to do is require the tenant to have the water turned on in their name 72 hours prior to moving in so I can go test the faucets, toilets, pipes, etc to make sure everything is working properly. If anything is not working, I will have time to get it squared away before they move in. Is this requirement going against any state laws for Texas? And has anyone ever run into issues with the tenant getting the water(or other utilities for that matter) in their name? I’ve always heard not to have the utilities in your name as the landlord because they will abuse it and then not pay.

[Collin Garbarino]

My two cents: next time just pay the 100 bucks for having water during a rehab. Think of it as a cheap insurance policy that makes sure your plumbing rehab doesn't get screwed up.