# Should I include utilities in my rent?



## micky18 (Aug 4, 2011)

I recently acquired my first investment property and am deciding whether to include all utilities in the rent. The condo fees already cover water/sewer. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to taking care of it myself or should I just leave it up to the tenants?


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## Dana (Nov 17, 2009)

I cannot speak to Alberta law, but in Ontario if the landlord pays the utilities and the tenant stops paying rent, the landlord cannot cut off the utilities. 

I also consider utilities as a secondary method of culling potential tenants: if the hydro or gas company demands a deposit from them or won't accept them as clients I should not either. Some tenants look for inclusive rent because they owe money to utilities. Not to mention that people who know they will be required to make a deposit for utilities or won't be accepted are less likely to waste your time applying for the unit. 

All my tenants pay their own utilities. Except water. Water is billed to the owner.


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

Your tenant has no incentive to ration power if you pay the utilities. A friend's tenant was constantly running the dishwasher and doing laundry for his extended family and friends. Big spike up in costs when he moved in. Seems safer to charge less rent, and let them take care of their own utilities.


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## crazyjackcsa (Aug 8, 2010)

Another, although rare, issue is if you're tenant sets up a grow op. Those fines for bypassing electricity can be in the tens of thousands of dollars.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

I think the biggest issue really is that you may end up with a tenant that now has no incentive to conserve energy, so expect bills double or triple what you would assume to be normal.

Easier to make them pay, and if their budget is tight they can conserve.


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## Cal (Jun 17, 2009)

Have the tenant pay for the electricity/gas.

I have never had a tenant refuse to rent a place b/c they had to pay for their own hydro usage.

Plus if your name is on the bill, you are responsible for making the payment, whether or not they pay their rent.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

We have our tenants pay all utilities except the water bill .


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## micky18 (Aug 4, 2011)

Thank you very much everyone. I appreciate your input.


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## sprocket1200 (Aug 21, 2009)

you acquired a rental property without first thinking about this? excellent!


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## twitandy (May 1, 2013)

*Tips for including utilities in rent:-*

First thing that its totaly depend on your land lord that either he allows or not.. And the other thing is that when you go for rentig again in future then ask every thing to your land lord.


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## NotMe (Jan 10, 2011)

sprocket1200 said:


> you acquired a rental property without first thinking about this? excellent!


Sarcasm not helpful here. People aren't born with knowledge or the innate ability to know all the questions one should ask before doing something. I never would have thought about it, and I'm a pretty decent forward-thinker. Experience is what you get when you lack wisdom, and you have to keep on learning.


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## Xoron (Jun 22, 2010)

Not sure where you own your rental property, but in Ontario, unpaid bills by tenants can be transfers to the landlord if the tenant doesn't pay. Along with a nice penalty for interest and fee to do the transfer. So either way you could up having to pay the bills, but new with the added benefit of having the tenant pay a lower rent based on the fact that they should be paying the utilities themselves


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

This only applies to water. Gas and electricity remain the responsibility of the tenant


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

Not that the other utility companies won't try to transfer the costs...but you can refuse.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

Yep if they can screw you they will, we had this problem in the building I managed that was electric heat, we would submit the forms that were provided by Toronto and they still managed to lose them. Fortunately we always kept file copies including the fax receipt. Then they occasionally tried to say that the tenant didn't take responsibility over the phone but fortunately we had the lease to back up the signatures. I also had to send them very strongly worded letters a couple times.


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## peterk (May 16, 2010)

I've never been an owner, but have rented a ton of places over the last 7 years.

I think the best scenario, and the one I come across most frequently, is for the landlord to keep all the utilities under his own name, but send the bills to the tenant. This way the tenant still has to pay a monthly utility bill and won't abuse the system.

I've also had lease agreements where you pay a regular monthly rent to the landlord where it is expressly stated that $xxx are for rent and $xx are for utilities, and that there will be a bill owing or refund given at the end of the lease, depending on utility usage. I also found that to be quite successful and easy for both parties.

I understand landlords being weary of providing all inclusive. But realize that good tenants may interpret a landlord wanting the tenant to take full control of utilities as an indicator of a disinterested landlord. One that may also not want to bother with things like repairs. Obviously, this is a weak indicator, but I'm sure it's no weaker than landlords screening out tenants based on their desire for all inclusive utilities


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## jcgd (Oct 30, 2011)

My last landlord didn't fix the leaky faucet and I had to pay all the bills. I got fed up and moved. My utilities are now I Included and I love having to only deal with a single cheque each month. I am very respectful and I'm energy conscious so I try not to waste power or water. I even put out for LED bulbs (4watt) to replace the 50watt halogens. I've been in this place 3.5 years now and I will be until 5 years before I consider moving. 

My landlord is pretty good, and I'm pretty good. No horror stories here. I think my landlord got pretty lucky.


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## NorthKC (Apr 1, 2013)

When I was in university, I had to pay for utilities with my roommates. The toughest part was trying to make sure that my roommates paid me on time for their share. Only had issues with one roomie so we agreed to have her pay me 1 month in advance to account for any shortfall. 

The other 2 apartments that I have rented since then (no roommies) were all-inclusive. The only thing that landlord asked was be realistic. I had one landlord had in writing that if planning to install a/c or dishwasher, to notify landlord so that tenant will be billed extra (medical reasons were exempted but doctor's note was required) for a period of time. Failure to comply would result in losing all-inclusive rent and result in full share of utilities. I've been pretty fortunate! It's nice to have one single consistent payment every month.


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## thompsg4416 (Aug 18, 2010)

Like any investment. You have to look at the upside and the downside risk. 

I don't really see an upside to including the utilities. Perhaps you could try and jack up the rent high enough to actually make more money off the utilities then you'd pay? Then you risk not being competitive for an extra buck or two a month. You may attract the odd extra tenant who wants everything included but having been a tenant - its never really a deciding factor. 

Lots of downside risk - Crazy tenant with no incentive to conserve electricity. grow ops.. don't pay thier bill.. etc etc Are you going to (Can you)make the tenants use LED light bulbs to conserve electricity? what if they don't want to pay the extra up front cost or the type of light they emit? There is also the risk of you under estimating how much the utilities cost and not charging enough. What happens when electricity costs rise? you comfortable raising the rent every year to keep pace with that and inflation? Are your tenants?

Personally I don't see a reason to take on the risk or create an extra point of conflict however small it might be to include the utilities. There is almost zero upside to this for you as a landlord. As a landlord myself, utilities are extra and I haven't had any problems getting it rented.


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## Berubeland (Sep 6, 2009)

There was a survey done, that people who do not pay their own utilities use 30% more. I don't include utilities ever and can't think of a reason to. Sorry that's a lie I just told an owner to pay for electricity because the meter was shared three ways with his downstairs store and another apartment. I also got him $200 more per month than he wanted for the space. Still not happy...


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## sprocket1200 (Aug 21, 2009)

holy ****, you people are stupid!



micky18 said:


> I recently acquired my first investment property and am deciding whether to include all utilities in the rent. The condo fees already cover water/sewer. I'm wondering if there is a benefit to taking care of it myself or should I just leave it up to the tenants?


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## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

When we had renters, make them pay, their account, their liability.


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