Utilities Included in Rent During House Hack

[Dilman R.]

Hello BP,

I am having trouble deciding including utilities as a flat fee in the rent. I know utilities fluctuate based on usage, the season and the market (I'm in Connecticut) but since I'm house hacking, and only one meter, I'll put utilities under my name.

The rent is enough to cover P+I, taxes, pmi and insurance. It's a 3 bedroom 1 bath home and I am going to be living in the basement. I will build a bathroom in the basement and will live in the property for the required FHA time (1 year).

After that, I will move out, and increase the rent due to the basement now being available to the tenant. So far I have estimated $50-$200 in out of pocket expenses that I will need to cover and that is based on utilities. I won't know how much a bill will be but will contact the utility companies in my area to get an average.

Questions for BP:

Should I require tenant to put utilities under their name and I pay them for my pro-rata share? Does having an FHA loan prohibit putting anything in anyone else's name?

Should I split utilities with tenant and lower asking rent to offset?

Should I use a special formula to come up with a calculation?

Thank you!