Utilities and property management payments for rental property

[Sylvia Herman]

Hi everyone,

We made a few utility payments for our new house in Florida over the phone and they charged  every time. How can we pay without any additional charges? I am planning on setting up a new bank account and make automatic online payments. Is this the best way to do it? Also, the new bank account should be personal account or business account? We have Bank of America - if this makes any difference.

Should we open the new account in Georgia, where we live, or in Florida where the rental house is?  But in this case all mail will go there - could we ask them to send it to the Georgia address?

Another question: how do we transfer money between the property manager and us? Bank transfer, check, what is the best way? Property manager says he will send an invoice each month - is this how property management works?

Sorry about all these questions that probably sound silly to the experienced investors...any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Sylvia

[Nick Baldo]

@Sylvia Herman,

You should have a stand-alone bank account for all business related transactions. As for the utilities, typically online/ automatic payments are free. This is your best solution to get rid of the fees. Not exactly sure about where to open the account. I think you could open where you live for convenience...but not positive. 

For your property manager, this depends on their payment methods/ terms. The simplest way is to send a check every time you get an invoice. If the manager is more advanced, they will have an option for you to pay online. There are several cheap/ free ways to arrange online payments...I would push them to offer this. 

Feel free to reply with more specific questions.