Triplex, Utilities and cash payments from tenants

[Antonio Chelala]

Hello investors,

I trust you are doing well!

I was looking at a triplex listing and asked some information to my listing agent about the tenants and rents for each unit as well as the utilties. So the response is as following:

Response ------Unit #2 upstairs gets paid on the 20th of the month and usually pays a couple days after that. Unit #1 gets paid by the job (sometimes misses a month & then pays 2 months at a time). Unit #3 usually pays around the 20th. They all pay cash.

Yearly Utilities:

Electric $2927
Gas $2823
Water $1054
Taxes $1423
Insurance $642

Upper unit: 3 bedroom, $625 month to month (month to month lease)
Entry level unit: 2 bedroom, $750 (month to month lease)
Basement level unit : 1 bedroom, $600 (month to month lease)-basement level is the newest tenant; the others have been there for years.------

In your professional opinion, if I were to purchase this property:

1- Would I be able to start charging these tenants utilities? What can I do in case the meters are not separate (no information on that yet)?

2- Regarding the tenant that sometimes misses payments, and the cash situation, what should I do?

3- Can they be inclined to break their monthly lease in case I ask for payments that are not cash?

4- Can I start change their monthly "lease" to a yearly lease agreement signed?

If this would be my first property, would that be too much for me to handle?

Thank you all,

Antonio