Investor · Pocatello, ID · Member since 2008 · 10 posts · 1 vote
Hi,
I am happy to be here!! What a great forum to bring like-minded people together. I am looking forward to getting to know you all. I bought my first investment in 2004 and basically experienced a lot of what can go wrong. First of all, I have learned not to put family in my rentals...hahaha. They are the worst tenants ever!! My goal is 5 rentals per year that cash flow at least $400 each. I'm on my way to #2, with my offer just getting accepted. However, this rental is a house converted to a duplex so they share the utilities....I have been told that the tenants will be fine with splitting the bills based on square footage...would love to hear any other ideas of how people deal with shared utilities?
Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 515 votes
10y
Hello @Karen Hopson and let me be the first member to welcome you to Bigger Pockets. You came to the right place for real estate investing. It has everything you need including free online videos and educational courses for you to watch and learn from. BP even allows you to post blogs and share ideas with others. You came to the right place and I wish you all the best.
Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 515 votes
10y
Hello @Karen Hopson and let me be the first member to welcome you to Bigger Pockets. You came to the right place for real estate investing. It has everything you need including free online videos and educational courses for you to watch and learn from. BP even allows you to post blogs and share ideas with others. You came to the right place and I wish you all the best.
Pocatello, ID · Member since 2015 · 25 posts · 4 votes
10y
@Karen Hopson welcome to BP! I have a tri-plex, and my gas comes in one, I pay gas, water,sewer, and garbage, and and so the rent is set, that's the way I did it, let me know how that works for you, splitting the bills.
Investor · Wilder, ID · Member since 2015 · 18 posts · 4 votes
10y
Hi Karen,
Welcome! I have a triplex that is two separate houses on one lot with one of the houses having a basement apartment. All utilities are combined except for electric (where each unit has separate meters, plus a utility meter for the laundry room). I include the utilities in the rent, which can be good with good tenants, but I've had crappy tenants who will leave heat on and windows open because they can.
I would caution that if the tenants are splitting equally, and one begins to feel that the other is not being efficient, you might start to have squabbles. Raise the rent enough to cover the average and you shouldn't have any issues.