Renting in the Lexington, KY Area

[Evan Jackson]

I am interested in investing in the growing college city. I am curious if there is anyone that invests in Lexington? If so, do you usually charge tenants utilities on top of rent or do you cover the cost of them? Thank you!

[Ryan Niccum]

Hi @Evan Jackson, welcome to the world of RE investing. Lexington KY is a great are to invest in! I have a few multifamily properties in the area and 100% of our tenants pay for utilities at this time.

There’s 3 primary reasons in my experience:

1) It keeps tenants accountable for their behavior, like running AC with windows open in the summer etc... If the relationship goes south, they can use it to antagonize you.

2) We had a couple tenants who decided to quit paying rent during the eviction moratorium. They were inherited tenants from the previous property owner and the lease had us paying utilities. We had to wait out their lease a few months before the legal system granted us eviction for lease non renewal. In the mean time we were legally obligated to continue paying their utilities per the terms of the inherited lease.

3) Without utilities included in the rent, you can market the units at a lower price which makes them more attractive to prospective tenants in the marketplace.

I welcome you to investing in this area and hope you crush it. If you don’t have an agent already helping you find investment properties in Lexington, let me know as I specialize in connecting investors to properties in this area both on and off market!