All Forum Posts by: Jennifer S.

I'd consider tenant history as well. If the property has long-term and stable tenants then a shared electric meter could work. But personally, separate electric meters give me more peace.

I would definitely take a look and see what it would cost to have the electrical split up. It would be worth it in the long run for sure. 

 You can always charge an electricity fee on top of rent, might even profit off it but definitely more of a hassle.

Most likely you want to stay away, we've had a few deals with 1 meter and multiple units, the city shut it down and made the owner convert those units or stop using them altogether because electric was one meter. One water meter is pretty common and you can include in the rent, charge tenants a flat water fee monthly, subdivide or do a RUBS most of the time, option 1-2 work for the smaller properties. Subdivide or RUBS we see on 20+ unit buildings. When it comes to the 1 electric meter we don't like it due to one owner lost about 100k+ and the other 200k+, one was a "duplex" the other was a 5 unit that really was only able to be used as a 2 unit. If it were me I'd pass or do a substantial escrow holdback until you knew if things were properly permitted, etc. @Jennifer S.

Personally, I wuldn't buy without separate utilities.  I've seen landlord paid utility bills get out of control.  I do like Josh Hanson's idea of a Sense device.  I'm not familiar with it but  am going to look into that.

Good luck!

What will it cost to separate the meters? Look historically what utilities has been costing and charge a flat rate. 

I have a duplex with one meter and I use a Sense (https://sense.com/) device to monitor the total KWH that the upstairs unit is using I then take the electric bill and split the bill up based on the amount of power drawn by the upstairs unit vs the total usage. A separate meter is a better way to go but this way has been working for me and it's $300 vs thousands to achieve the same result and the tenants have been good with it.

Hi @Jennifer S.

Since it would be a long-term investment, I would definitely consider setting up 3 different meters. That way you don't have to bother splitting bills and being responsible for that. If the tenant does not pay the electric bill, the utility company would be responsible for filing a lawsuit to get their money from the tenant if the tenant is unwilling to pay.

Best of luck, 

David

Splitting services is definitely ideal, but not always possible or practical.  The easiest way to avoid it is to include all services in the rent and estimate use for each unit, based on square footage or number of bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.  Then set the rent accordingly.  This works reasonably well for many situations, but it can lead to issues when you happen to have a particularly wasteful tenant that uses excessive amounts of water and/or electricity.

@Jennifer S.

I would separate the electricity. Get some quotes from electricians before making your final decision. This will also make the property easier to sell in the future. Water submetering is more difficult with smaller properties; especially older ones.