So a 2 BR 2 BATH would pay twice the water usage of a 2 BR 1 BATH.You also need to take into account the common usages, like washing machines, car washes, lawn sprinklers.I would just pick a method that seems most fair and work out the flat fee from that.Curious, is there any advantage to charge a flat water fee of $25 instead of just increasing the rent by $25 and say water is included?

We have some units in a building we just bought that came with w/d, and we plan to get rid of those machines when the tenants vacate. 

In the units where they have an in-unit WD, this persuades them to not allow visitors to do a load of laundry in my machines (yes, I pay for machines too and this has been a good investment, as opposed to tenants providing their own). 

So there is another opportunity to add extra income if you add coin wash machines.

I took no deductions, sometimes I'd get some money back, sometimes I'd pay in an extra thousand dollars or two, but it wasn't such a big deal.Running a small business for the past 8 years, I was a weekend warrior, coffee break maniac, and late night administrative machine.

I was thinking of leasing coin-op machines and putting them in the garage but decided to go for more tenant convenience and charge more in rent. 

Open every appliance - just had a comment on a different thread about former tenants who left raw chicken in the washing machine and turned off refrigerator at move-out. 

But their kid had a reaction to something, has an oxygen machine now, and they attribute it to the carpet.

Eventually you'll have a well oiled machine once it's put together.

But when the big builders turn on their machines more and more newer units will be introduced to the market and remember we have a little bit of a stay of market participants with college grads sitting on the sidelines with bad or no jobs.