Electric baseboard heat

[Michael Raposo]

I’m interested in buying a four family where the current owner installed electric baseboard heat. I’ve heard that electric heat is very expensive on the tenant. Should this keep me from buying this house?

[Michael Noto]

@Michael Raposo We are in Connecticut so we deal with the same types of issues with cold weather as you do in Mass.  How big are the 4-units? 

In our experience if the units are studios or 1-bedrooms there is no negative impact on the amount of rent we can get with electric heat, and the bills do not get to the point where tenants complain. As a whole these units are very easy to manage and there are no issues with HVAC systems breaking down mid winter.

If the units are 2 bedrooms or bigger then we do see an impact in the monthly rent we can get for the units if they have electric heat. Also, if you get a tenant who has never dealt with electric heat before in these bigger apartments they are usually shocked by their bill and it usually leads to them looking for elsewhere to live when their lease is up with a more efficient heating system option.