Tenant Utilities vs Utilities Included Monthly Rent - Owner M-I-L

[Dalia D.]

Am new to renting out my 3 b 2 ba house. I live in the mother-in-law and was considering requiring a month-to-month lease for the first 3 months (to see if it is a good fit) and then offering the tenant the opportunity for a 1 year term lease. On a yearly lease I intend to require the tenant to have the gas, electric and water in their name. (Not sure about the H2O - it might have to stay in the property owner's (my) name). I would credit their rent each month a static amount, that would represent my usage.

As far as the initial 3 months of the month-to-month lease, I am uncertain how to share the utilities. Should I just have the utilities included in a higher rent for the month-to-month-lease and then reduce the rent down to local comps for the 1 year lease?  And then have the utility bills in the tenants' name(s)? ...will credit for my usage of utilities.

I might be making this more complicated than it should be. What do you suggest? Thank you