converting to individual water meters

El Paso, TX · Member since 2012 · 3 posts · 2 votes

I own a property with two duplexes and a house that are all on the same water meter. I spoke to the utility company and they said to split it up and put an individual meter on each unit would cost at most $8000. I am paying $250/month in water and would like to have the next tenants cover all the utilities not just gas/electric. I plan to hold this property for the long term. Do you think it would be a good move to install the individual meters?

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Robert AdamsBusiness Member

Real Estate Broker · Henderson, NV · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 373 votes

13y

Why not just charge each tenant a flat water bill per month (ex. $50 per unit in the duplexes and $75 for the house) and save the $8k. Therefore passing majority (if not all) of the water bill onto the tenants without having the $8k expense.

In the example above you would receive $275 mo. Save the extra $25 as reserves for higher months (ex. leaks, accidental floods, etc.).

Or instead of adding this extra bill just add that amount to the rent and continue to say it is included in rent.

Either way you are keeping the $8k in your pocket.

Good luck with your investment property.

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Jeff Rinker
Property Manager · Waymart, PA · Member since 2017 · 7 posts · 3 votes
8y
Originally posted by @J. Martin:

...and the costs of getting it installed, separating pipes, paying city fees, (and getting 4 water heaters & space in my case), just didn't make sense.
another option would be to install hot water meters, although then you would have to add the cold and hot meter usage together to get the total. I found a nice hot water meter here:
WM-NLCH Hot Water Meter / Submeter
under $200 for 1/2" and 3/4"
usually even cheaper here at one of their distibutors:
https://www.flows.com/wm-nlch-series-hot-potable-water-meter/
Just something to consider.
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