Confused on Lawn Maintenance/ Water bills

[Pavan K.]

TLDR: how to take care of water bill which will include irrigation on a 10k sft yard 

Hello Everyone,  Will be closing on my  first new(build) Single family home as rental/investment property and would like to get your thoughts on how to go about Utility  Bill ( Water) . 

The yard alone is approx 10,000 squarefeet , watering the lawn will significantly increase the water bill. I don't think I can ask the renters to irrigate the lawn regularly? nor do I think they will. 

I do have HOA so lawn maintenance is a must ,this is the only rental in the community so far. I will hire out a lawn service for mowing ,but how do I go about paying the water bill, not able to figure this out . Should I split with the renter or should I pay it ,but won't the renter take advantage of the water usage if the landlord pays it ?

what would you do? 

[Mike Dymski]

Have the resident take care of lawn maintenance and utilities and include it your lease agreement (standard).  If they don't maintenance the lawn, send notification to cure just like any lease violation (and get it taken care of and bill back to resident).