Utilities on SFH Rentals

[Jonna Weber]

To experienced SFH investors, what utilities, if any, do you typically include for your house tenants? I am purchasing the first SFH rental that I've had in a while, and was wondering what the standard is these days. Home is nice, 2700 sq. foot mid-upper market. Thanks!

[Jon Holdman]

Tenants pay almost all utilities. The exception is things that are billed just once a year and that are effectively taxes. Sewer, for example, in some areas around Denver.

Some utilities, like water and trash, I pay and have the tenants pay me. Water because the cities here have the ability to lien a property for unpaid water bills and trash because tenants have discontinued trash service when moving out, left a big pile of trash, and the city gave me a violation because of the mess. If I'm paying for the trash service, I can be sure its still running when they move out.

For electric and gas I have landlord agreements with the power company. If it gets shut off or the tenant leaves and shuts it off, it switches to may name. Avoids frozen pipes.