All Forum Posts by: Hughston Thackham

depends the locations. might be easier to attract students with utilities included. with that said just water and sewer is recommended for apartments. For single families, nothing.

When you rent a car is gasoline included ?   

My tenants are all responsible for their utilities including the one ADU that I have. I have been doing this for nearly 30 years with overall good success. The lease clearly outlines the tenant responsibility and I'm notified of past due accounts which can lead to a 10 day notice to comply or vacate.

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

I have tenants pay it directly with the utility provider when possible.  Two rentals I have, the water has to be in the owner's name. For those, I sent the quarterly bill to the tenants and they add it to the rent the following month.

I'm in a similar situation. One rental it has to be under my name since I'm the owner. I pay it with my CC and send them the bill. They then pay me via Zelle. The other tenant since they are section 8, I pay the water bill and the govt pays me a higher rent since I'm covering it. Best case is to get the tenant to pay all their own utilities if possible. They will run up the bill when they aren't paying for it.

@Hughston Thackham

For LTRs, the tenants will mostly pay the utilities. However for MTRs, we typically pay for utilities with the caveat of a monthly cap. It’s meant as a deterrent so the tenant is more conscious of the energy they use.

Additionally, if working with condos or townhomes, some utilities are included through the HOA fees.

I have tenants pay it directly with the utility provider when possible.  Two rentals I have, the water has to be in the owner's name. For those, I sent the quarterly bill to the tenants and they add it to the rent the following month.

For my single-family properties, tenants are responsible for all utilities. This approach significantly reduces my workload and simplifies budgeting.

However, I do have a six-plex where I cover the water expenses. The city quoted $15,000 for five additional meters, so instead, I added $50 per month to the rent to cover the water costs. Initially, I was apprehensive about paying for utilities, but it has been easy to budget since the units are smaller.

Overall, it's much less stressful and more hands-off when tenants manage their own utilities.

@Hughston Thackham why would you include utilities in rent and take on the liability, when tenants can abuse utilities?

I personally think out-of-state investing is a top choice. You can invest in any market selecting the ones that you believe are seeing the most growth, and do it from anywhere. Once you get your systems down, you have a real estate business model that you can take to any market and be still be successful. I work with plenty of out-of-state investors who are seeing great success here in Ohio.

Read this article on the "core 4". It explains the team that you should develop to have a strong foundation under you while investing remotely.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/core-four-real-estate-team