Who pays your Utilities

[Joe Davis]

Curious to hear from other landlords on whom pays the utilities (gas/electric/water etc) in your properties. Do you write this into your lease, or do you cover this for them.

[Nathan Gesner]

Tenants always pay the utilities. If there is a shared meter, I still build the cost into their rent so they are paying for it. I also recommend adding a little buffer in case you get a tenant that uses more utility than average. For example, you can say "Rent includes up to $150 in utility use. Anything above this amount will be billed to the Tenant."