Include Utilities in Rent or Not? Best tenant payment strategy?
Hey BP Community! I'm excited to announce that I am currently under contract for my first home (house hack) at 20 years old! I am a current college student at the University of Utah and plan to do single room rentals while I take up one room. A couple questions regarding the landlord side,
1) From your guys' experience, have you found including the utilities in the rent for a flat rate was worth the time it would save calculating utilities for each person? (Divide total cost of utilities amongst every tenant in home).
2) Also, what is your guys' favorite way for collecting rent efficiently? I've heard Rentler is popular but, just wanted the opinions from people with more experience than me!
3) For doing room rentals, do you guys advise picking a specific "niche" of tenants? For example, only college students... (Without breaking tenant discrimination laws)
Thanks so much for any responses! If you are in the Salt Lake Valley, I would love to chat real estate!