Help Estimating Cleveland Utilities (Water, Sewer) and Insurance

[Christopher Rossi]

Hey there :) I searched the city websites for the most accurate information and came to the conclusion that the standard multi-family insurance policy costs $816 annually. 

And the average utilities are: 

Water: $59 per unit per month

Sewer: $7 per unit per month

Investors with property in Cleveland kindly confirm or deny or share your experiences. 

[Steven Gillmer]

Christopher, I own a duplex in Old Brooklyn and my water bill runs $51 - $70/month with both units filled. Sewer is $60 - $90/month. My insurance runs $1,560/ year, but you could get it lower depending upon your coverage amounts.

[Christopher Rossi]

@Steven Gillmer Thanks so much, that is very helpful.

[Federico Gutierrez]

Insurance has many factors. Zip code is a big factor same as your credit score

Water is 50-100/unit

Sewer is more expensive and that's a variable depending on the time of the year. $80-120/month

[Christopher Rossi]

@Federico Gutierrez Thank You!

[Matt Rutter]

Water is highly dependent on whether the property has in unit laundry, shared or neither. We have a 2 unit each with their own laundry that water and sewer is about $175, but we also ha e a 4 unit with shared laundry that is $100 or both. So it's hard to say off the bat but that should help. At a high end I think $100 per unit is a God conservative number to start with for a preliminary analysis. 

[John Koster]

For my duplexes I have been averaging $80 for water and $120 for Sewer.

[Trent Paulk]

Quote from @Federico Gutierrez:

Insurance has many factors. Zip code is a big factor same as your credit score

Water is 50-100/unit

Sewer is more expensive and that's a variable depending on the time of the year. $80-120/month

" $80-$120/month" for water... Is that per unit? 

[Anh Nguyen]

I'm curious on the gas and electric costs. I know tenants usually pay for it, but what if it is not seperately metered

[Michael Magno]

Quote from @Anh Nguyen:

I'm curious on the gas and electric costs. I know tenants usually pay for it, but what if it is not seperately metered

I don't recommend purchasing properties that don't the gas and electric separately metered.  Those types of properties, and tenant issues are nightmares. 

[Bob Collett]

Most of the responses here are reasonable, with sewer about 50% more than water.  More importantly, both have increased considerably over the past year.  Gas has probably increased 50% over the past year.

Remember, if I get a running toilet or any kind of leak, it can run up a huge bill very quickly into hundreds or even a thousand or more.  

I have a clause in my lease that requires tenants in SFR to pay all water and sewer. I have tenants in two family units each pay $50 or $75 monthly toward water and sewer.

Bob Collett

Collett Property Management