All Forum Posts by: David Nelsen

 I like this idea. I think I will do that and even within the listing note that the full total rent is $XYZ which includes $X amount for utilities. It's also how airlines like Spirit, Frontier, etc have such low rates, but by the time you pick your seat, add a carry on, etc. now you are paying about the same as the regular carriers.

Dennis, thank you for your reply. We decided to start by putting in one of the "Chicago Controls" thermostats on the main unit. www.landlordthermostats.com

I felt I would get complaints with the automatic setback type thermostat (automatically sets heat back to 68 every three hours) so we got the one that limits heat to 73 degrees and AC to 72 degrees.

I plan to be open and honest with them and tell them about this so there are no surprises.

Lawrence, yes it is a challenge with all the shared amenities too. We have a shared laundry in our basement as well. When a property wasn't originally built as a duplex it seems having things intermingled is the norm. We are going to do as you noted and just have the "utilities included". My concern is that raises the rent price and when people are scanning the listings they may see our rent as being "too high" and not even click on the link and see that the price includes utilities. We plan to put something in the lease to the effect of "your rent includes a $XXX credit for utilities, if utilities consistently are above the credit then the rent will be adjusted accordingly". We also will be doing what they call budget billing where we pay a set fee per month for six months and then the utility company goes back and makes sure that still covers our cost and then they will adjust the budget billing amount for the next six month cycle (either up or down based on the actual usage).

John and Corina, thank you both for your replies, they were both very helpful!

I think my initial plan will be to install a "chicago controls" thermostat (allows min/max settings) in the main floor unit and then hope for the best upstairs ;-)

I did search the forums a bit and many suggest using smart thermostats but I'm not sure how that would work unless you are providing the WiFi or you ask the tenant to allow you to connect the smart thermostat to their wifi.

@Courtney Walker

Does anyone know if the property management / maintenance requests will continue on?

I tried to sign up for a cozy account and I cannot but I’m pointed to apartments.com to set up an account.

I don’t see anything in the landlord menu about maintenance requests. Maybe this because I haven’t finished listing my property and it will pop up after that?

We are about to close on a duplex that has separate electric but only one furnace, AC and hot water heater. Anyone have ideas on how to best split the utilities or bill back to the renters?

Currently there is only one thermostat at the lower unit so I can see them cranking up the heat and then the renter upstairs is roasting so they open all the windows (duplex is in Wisconsin, so cold winters)

We looked into electronic dampers with a second thermostat upstairs, but still have concerns about how to best / fairly split the bill. (The AC is on the downstairs unit electric bill).

Thanks!