All Forum Posts by: Joshua Harmon

I have been weighing my options on what I should do about the increased water bills in my market. Unfortunately, water bills have increased almost 3 times over the past year or so in Fort Smith, and we just got word that there will be another increase soon. Although RUBS has been almost universally implemented, there is not one apartment in our area that uses this strategy. 

As an apartment owner, I have 2 options. Option 1 is to sell. Option 2 is to find a solution. I will be closing on an 8 unit apartment in less than 2 weeks and someone suggested an awesome strategy. Lease w/d to tenants.

I could structure the lease where tenants must sign a 1-year lease on equipment. So let's just say that I am able to purchase a w/d for $300. The tenants would be responsible to pay $25 monthly in order to do laundry in their units. 

The obvious positive to this strategy is the tenants pay for the equipment within 1 year and we would be able to add this revenue to our NOI. I the other hand, we will be responsible for repairs and maintenance to the equipment is something goes wrong.

We are the only apartment complex within a .5 mile radius that has w/d hookups in the units so this could work.

Does anyone have any experience with this strategy? How did it work or not work out for you? Any other suggestions? Any pitfalls that I could face in the future?

 That's true. Laundry mats can end up being just as expensive, and not to mention the time the tenant has to spend at the laundry mat as well.

 It’s actually $15 under market compared to units without w/d hookups in the Units. 

 Yeah I’m shocked that RUBS isn’t in our local market either. 

What are the terms of your laundry equipment rental?

 Thanks for the advice Brandon. I think the low-flow shower heads and toilets would be a game changer. 

 Sounds like a solid plan. We'll definitely consider this.

Thank you.

I agree. The property is currently 50% occupied so we'll be able to go in and renovate 4 out the 8 units at closing. Do you think about capping those units? 

Hello BP Family,

I will be closing on my first 8 unit Apartment in a couple weeks, and my excitement us through the roof. I only have one issue. The tenants have washer/dryer hookups in their units and the water bill is currently the owner's responsibility. On average, the water bill runs approximately $70 per unit, $560 total monthly, or $6720 annually! Unfortunately, RUBS is not used by any apartment investors in our area so I'm just going to assume, for now, that's not an option. The rents are approximately $15 under the market so we have some room to raise the rents.

My partner and I have an idea to cap the washer/dryer hookups until we can find a way to either bill back the water, raise rents to market value, and/or charge tenants to have laundry accessibility in their unit. 

Have any of you had to cap washer/dryer access in your apartments? What feedback did you get from tenants? Does anyone have any suggestions on what we could do in this situation?

 Resident Utility Billing System. Basically submetering the water rather than having a master meter where the landlord is responsible for the bill.

This is the way to do it!