Tenant pay water and garbage or not?

Question

Hi, BP community. I am new to BP as of this year and this is my first time to post on the forum. I am a landlord of a SFR in Berkeley, CA. Is it common for the tenants to pay for water and garbage? I currently pay for the water since I want to be sure the yard stays nice and doesn't dry up. The house is in my neighborhood.

Thanks!

Jeff B. · Answer

I'm with @Mohammad Sheatt. It's good business, BUT the curb appeal quickly gets trashed - - "oh, there's another rental". I'm B&H investor with a 6-plex which has common water meter, so I eat the water and the trash as part of being an owner.

Todd Fithian · Answer

We pay for our tenants water, but everyones different.  It works out well for us.  They are happy, we dont mind, and the higher rent makes up for the water payment we have.  It was just an incentive we used when looking for renters.

Christine Swaidan · Answer

We have 2 SFR that we always paid the water just for the reason you stated. They are both in our neighborhood with similar yard space.  Guess what--the two rentals always had the higher bills. A year and half ago I got tired of it and had tenants take over.  Mass hysteria!! Southern California is still in a drought and water has got quite pricey here. We do continue to pay the gardening service. Trash has always been up to the tenant.

Michele V. · Answer

I was actually discussing the subject of the water bill with my financial adviser just yesterday.  We agreed that when the landlord pays the water bill, the tenant wastes water.  It's like paying for the power bill - when you do that, the tenant will keep the place at 65 degrees while leaving the doors open in the Summertime.  I just bought a place I plan to rent out (as soon as I've completed some renovations), and I have no plans of paying the water bill for my tenant.

As for the garbage bill, I think the landlord might need to pay for that.  (But I would be open to hear some reasons why the landlord shouldn't... I'm learning too.)

Tenant pay water and garbage or not?

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