Durham, NC · Member since 2013 · 502 posts · 215 votes
I own a condo inhabited by four unrelated individuals, which is legal in Raleigh, NC. As landlord I pay the utility bills and just don't get how each resident can use 86 gal of water daily. I was told that this is not unusual. Nevertheless, it is more than 3 times the amount used in the household I reside in, and that includes daily showers by most residents. I was wondering if other landlords experiment with incentive models to have the tenants don't waste as much water.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
We track water use for our well and a single leaking sink faucet doubled the use of 7 tenants. They used 80- 127 gal/p/day with one leaking faucet. A leaking running toilet did the same thing. Check your fixtures. If I see the meter running when water is off I send an email asking does anyone have a leak.
I enforce no exterior water use. You need to take your car, jet ski to the car wash. No swimming pools no matter how small. I had to remove a hose from the building because one tenant was washing his car.
Low volume HE washing machine, if you have a water hog washing machine they are doing low volume loads with lots of water.
Aside from that I have an excessive use clause in the lease that allows that I can charge for excessive use. You would probably need to add that to the lease. I warned one set of tenants and they shaped up once they realized I was watching.
Investor · Enfield , CT · Member since 2015 · 55 posts · 29 votes
9y
Yes 86 gallons of water seems extremely excessive. Is there no way to have them pay for water and have them split the bill themselves. I live in Goldsboro nc and military guys rent single families and split all the utilities amongst themselves. This isn't very uncommon. Leave them accountable for it.
Boca Raton, FL · Member since 2015 · 249 posts · 52 votes
9y
Every rental I rented I had to pay utilities, other than the odd community that they paid for my cable or snow removal. Is it acceptable in your rental area that tenant pay for water?
Why are you paying the utility bills, is there a logical reason for this decision on your part.
As for methods to encourage conservation it is a waste of time with tenants when the cost to them is zero. Why would they care about conserving something that is free.
Rental Property Investor · Carlisle, PA · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 543 votes
9y
@Andreas W., find a way to charge it back to the tenants. When is the current lease up? Amend the lease next time to charge the water back to the tenants. If they have no incentive to save water, they will not pay any attention to the usage rates.
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
We own an 8-plex that's not separately metered for water. So we include water with the rent. Water conservation is important to us too. When the water bill comes, we look at the usage. A spike can mean a leak or it can mean an unauthorized occupant has moved it.
We installed water conservation shower heads and faucet aerators. And water efficient toilets. The laundry is coin-op, so the tenants pay by load. We too have policies and procedures in place that prohibit washing vehicles on the premises. No pools or waterbeds either. We place water alarms under sink cabinets and by the hot water heater to detect leaks. We do regular maintenance inspections to catch leak problems and try to prevent leaks by replacing water lines before they wear out. We also require tenants to notify us in a timely manner if they notice any drips, leaks or running toilets.
The only thing we have not reined in has been use of the garden hose for watering outside plants. Fortunately, we live in an area that provides plenty of natural rain water. In the summer though, it can get hot and some of the plants, shrubs and trees need more water. We have a community garden as well. The benefit of the having nice landscaping and gardens outweighs the cost of the water needed to maintain it. However, we do let the lawns brown in the summer. They green right back up again after a significant rain. :-)
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
@Account Closed we define excessive use in a single family as 1.5 times the use over the similar period the previous year. Where we use this they can't put water bill in their name and pass thru doesn't make unless they are abusing it. For the multifamily any time the meter indicates they are using > 35 gallon/ person/day we evaluate the use. I We can't charge there but the property is on well so anyone with overuse behaviors gets a lease violation. On a well it is not just cost but damage to the well and that is a risk for everyone but most of the tenants there are good about it.
Yes, absolutely. The best is to have tenants pay for utilities. But in this case they are four unrelated persons paying an increased rent. The tenant pool is supposedly larger compared to tenants dealing with their own utility payments.
I attribute the spike in water usage to an illegal tenant having moved in because usage spiked by 75% from one month to the next. There is the same person I have have met too often, despite claims to be a visitor. The PM says not much can be done about that, which I find to be a losing response. The water use is purely indoors from kitchen, 4 bathrooms, and laundry. The washing machine runs a lot. Unfortunately, I cannot put in a coin operated machine. The faucets have aerators, and the shower heads are low flow, although not ultra low flow. The toilets are older, unfortunately. They are the next items to be updates.
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
@Andreas W. The PM is under-performing if they think there's not much they can do. What have they done so far for you about this problem? Is the rental agreement a long term lease or a month-to-month?
How far away are you from this property? If I were you, I would make a site visit.
Do a "maintenance inspection". Give them proper Notice to Enter. You need to get into this unit and see what is going on. It's best to do this when the tenants are at home so you can also have a chance to talk with them casually to ferret out more information. Also, it reduces the chance anyone will claim you stole something. Our maintenance inspections help us see the condition of the unit, but we also scope out what is happening and look for possible lease/rule violations. Charge for any damages as you discover them and attend to any maintenance items in a timely manner.
I would simply state facts and ask for more information.... such as: "There's been a 75% increase in water usage from this unit in the last month. What do you think is going on?" Then take the time to really listen and watch their body language. Check all the plumbing for leaks. Ask them how many loads of laundry they are doing. Ask them how many people are staying in the unit and for their names. Maybe even ask them to sign a document that restates the names of all authorized occupants.
Ask them about the extra person you notice hanging around and ask if he has moved in. If they say no, then say "Then why do I see him here so often and sometimes when you guys aren't even here?" Ask, "Where does he live? Next time he's at the property, ask him to verify he has another address and ask to see his ID so you can "verify" this. I've done that before. Do you have a guest policy that limits the number of days a guest can stay and what they can or can't do? Guests should not be parking, doing laundry or showering regularly at the property.
No harm in asking questions and checking it out in person. Works as a deterrent. They will know you are watching. The PM should have been doing this. Good chance the water usage will shoot down again. If the high water use continues, raise the rent at the next interval to cover your costs. Change to month-to-month agreements so you can change terms sooner if you need to.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
Is the washer a new High efficiency machine using 13-17 gallons/load or a 35 gallon/load top loader?
A toilet before 1980 might use 5 to 8 gallons per flush (gpf), each resident might be flushing 48 gallons of water daily...... a toilet built to 1992 standards uses 1.6 gpf, 9.6 gallons daily..... today you can get 1.2 gallon toilets... 7.2 gallons/day. If your toilets are earlier then 1980 seems like switching them might do a world of good for your water bill.
It is probably the extra resident but consider the toilets soon if they are the real high volume ones. Parking is also a way to limit occupancy but with this being a condo it may be hard to limit parking.
Thank you for your tips. I agree, the PM is underwhelming. I asked PM to send note to tenants that rooms are single occupancy only. Not sure why he hasn't done that already .In general it is lackluster performance. Every expense gets billed to the owner, incl. clogged sink drains and complaint about a "busted" garbage disposal that actually doesn't exist. I will seek alternatives for PM. If managing the PM takes too much time, I might as well manage condo myself. Inspection is scheduled. Will talk to tenants as well.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
@Andreas W. you suggested the toilets were next to be upgraded as they were older so I assumed not low flow, so your water loss is due possible leaks and an probable extra resident. Even so it is a lot. Check under the dishwasher if you have one, just found a leak tenants didn't report there.
And if they are stupid enough to complain about a busted garbage disposal they don't have then you have a good straightforward bill for the sink clog "plumbing services for use of non-existent garbage disposal"...
Yes, I checked more closely and found out that the toilets have in fact 1.6 g tanks. They don't leak, so, I really assume now that the extra tenant is the culprit. I will check under the dishwasher next time. I meanwhile leaned about a dishwasher pan like that one. As far as I understand, the slightly slanted pan has the leaking water moved to the front of the dw where it becomes noticeable to the user. :
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
@Andreas W. I don't have experience with it but many on this site have mentioned pans for appliances and hot water heaters for sure it is now required. Looks like a good idea but I doubt my tenants would notice as the washer was leaking from not cleaning the seal and they didn't notice that... I wonder if a water sensing alarm plus this is good idea. they have the batter operated alarms you can use.
Titusville, FL · Member since 2016 · 55 posts · 40 votes
9y
Charge backs. The EPA watersense program estimates water usage per person per day in a home. Add 5% for margin and set your all inclusive rent proportionally. Update your lease with an excessive use clause such that every occupant's rent is increased to cover the cost. If your tenants are especially cost sensitive (as all inclusive rent would imply) they will keep a sharp eye on usage. This of course assumes you have your own skin in the game by having installed LED lighting, water saving toilets, watersense rated fixtures, energy star compliant appliances, and have inspected your piping for leaks. Incidentally all my resource saving items have paid for themselves directly or indirectly in the form of tax credits, incentive payments, and reduced bills.
Investor · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
If you have 1.6 gpf toilets you can retrofit them with a "dual flush" system for $30 and 20 minutes each. This contraption replaces the lever system inside the toilet tank with one that has "half flush" and "full flush" options. I bought mine at Lowes. It is a lot like this one: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Fluidmaster-Dual-Flush-Co...
Investor · Willow Spring, NC · Member since 2009 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
9y
This is a serious red flag: "Every expense gets billed to the owner, incl. clogged sink drains and complaint about a "busted" garbage disposal that actually doesn't exist." 3 different people will give you 7 different ways to react. It's always interesting to hear the reaction of the PM when he is called out on something like this. What did he say when you brought this egregious error to his attention?
Regarding "I attribute the spike in water usage to an illegal tenant having moved in... The PM says not much can be done about that, which I find to be a losing response." Indeed. Assuming you use a "standard" Realtor lease, tell the PM about section 14. "Occupants: The Tenant shall not allow or permit the Premises to be occupied or used as a residence by any person other than Tenant and Permitted Occupants." If you can prove this person moved in, it is a non-monetary breach of lease. I have evicted tenants for this breach in Wake county court, so it can be done.
And you say "Unfortunately, I cannot put in a coin operated machine." And this because of...? Back in the day... I knew a Raleigh landlord who had coin op machines in every (of 20 or so) rental he operated. It was less an excuse to visit the property periodically than a method to curb utility expenses.
Finally, and I think this program still exists but haven't tried for a few years, you can go to the city utility office and get their water saving kit (see what they give you below.) 1 per parcel. If you take them an old shower head they will give you a low flow replacement. Blue bag. Low flow aerators & shower head, commode leak test kit,
Do you have experience with those? I want to avoid that I buy myself another reason for maintenance calls.
Yes. I bought mine at Lowes. I've installed them on two toilets so far and will continue to do so on any of my older toilets once their flappers wear out.
My experience is limited to the short term at this point.
Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
Fist of all I will check if there are any leakages from your negligence of maintenance. Explain that water bill may be high. Turn off all faucets and watch water meter. Second I will install low flow toilet on older units. Average usage should be 75 gallons/capital/day in most of USA. Do you have a faulty water meter ask the utility folks.
In west coast it is strictly monitored and enforced. $120-50 in the summer is typical for a family of 4-5. Car wash is also prohibited unless one uses recycled water.
I read the same, to me surprising, 75 gal per day. That is more than twice what is consumed in my household. It excludes car washing and lawn watering but includes daily showers. It baffles me how people can spend so much water.
Real Estate Agent · Cupertino, CA · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
9y
It used to 125 gallons per capita per day based on 10 States Water Standards by AWWA. That was what municipalities used in water supply and waste water treatment plant design.
75 gallons were resulted from conservation:
Take 2.6 gallons time 15 taking a leak (40 gallons per person) +5 gallons per shower, 30 gallons for bath. There is such thing as lawn. Laundry.... They quickly exceeded the recommended usage.
Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
9y
Originally posted by @Colleen F:
I meanwhile leaned about a dishwasher pan like that one. As far as I understand, the slightly slanted pan has the leaking water moved to the front of the dw where it becomes noticeable to the user. :
We've used a DWIP (dishwasher inner protection pan) for years. Made since 1990 by a small family owned company in our area. The Eastman product is similiar. We put them under all of dishwashers in our units. Works great!