San Francisco, CA · Member since 2015 · 16 posts · 2 votes
When considering a property for investment in a new jurisdiction, what methods are folks using to determine/estimate the costs associated with water, sewer, garbage, and other utility costs which will be covered by the landlord?
Is this something that can be determined/estimated easily and accurately before talking to the seller?
By what unit of measure do you estimate by (per bedroom, per unit, per square foot)?
In addition to what @Ryan Gillette said, you may be able to call the utility company and ask for averages of the property address for due diligence purposes of a purchase.
Ask your realtor what the going is for the market in terms of which items the landlord pays for and what estimates are per unit. Nationwide the standard is $.14 per square foot - that's FHA and VA's marker at least. Realistically it totally varies by market and climate in terms of the costs and what the landlord is expected to pay. If you want a simple benchmarker, I'm in CT and it's about $25+$25/person/unit for water/septic. Family of 4 is ~125/month whereas a couple uses $75/month. Landlord pays it.
In addition to what @Ryan Gillette said, you may be able to call the utility company and ask for averages of the property address for due diligence purposes of a purchase.
You take it from where ever you can get it, Owners paying bills will paint a rosy picture without hard copies of bills. Ask tenants what their bills are. Call utility Co and ask, although they try to get out of it by claiming confidentiality, I just ell them I'm looking at the unit to rent/but and need to know "rough numbers", they will often will say what a "budget plan # is", as in a locked in monthly electric bill of $180 for a smaller all electric home I own, but not what the current occupants' exact bill is.
I don't think you can guestimate by rooms or square footage, structure, windows / doors & INSULATION are big factors that are very different from house to house, especially with different ages. A 20-30 year old home will be pretty well insulated, a 70-100+ year old home will be like heating a birdcage for the most part.