Splitting utilities for a two family house

[Mark Goncalves]

I just converted a single family house into a two family house is it worth splitting the utilities

[Shawn Parsh]

Mark,

If I understand correctly you are living in the downstairs and you have rented the upstairs. How do you currently decide who pays what for the utilities? What utilities do you have...gas, electric, water? What about internet and trash service? From my perspective I would definitely separate the utilities for heat and hot water whether that is gas or electric. I have seen many situations where a tenant in an upstairs apartment would leave their window open in the winter because they were hot while the tenant downstairs kept the thermostat up. If your intent is to keep this a two unit I would separate the utilities it will likely save you money and aggravation in the future. I have separated many multi-units over the years that I have bought that were on shared utilities. Good luck.