Rental Utilities

In our rentals, we include the Satellite TV and the wireless Internet. Tenants pay electric at the going WAPA rate. We have cistern water, but we still charge for it. A lot of people question that, but the reason(s) we charge is because whenever a utility is included in the rent, tenants tend to abuse the use. Not all obviously, but all it takes is one to drain the cistern. The other reason is cisterns do require upkeep, and when it doesn't rain a lot, we have to buy the water.

We have a small apt. complex, and each unit has its own elec. meter and water meter. A lot of apartments here are in private houses, without a separate meter. Sometime the utilities are included or "shared" on some type of percentage basis. I personally wouldn't care for that arrangement, but if everyone is comfortable with their neighbors, it could work fine.

The only rental I had before I bought that didn't charge for water made the tenants buy water when it was ran out. Water can be anywhere from 2-10 cents/gallon but usually somewhere in the middle.

It is normal to have to pay your own electric, cable, internet, water and gas. Some landlords even make the tenants pay for yard care of a house. If the price is right it might be worth it.

Fairly often studios attached to houses will include electric because the landlord doesnt want to pay the cost to sub meter it. And it is expensive to have it done.

I included electric with my first tenant here and never did that again. Like Juanita says people tend to abuse it. And electric is just so high here it doesn't make for good landlord/tenant relations to include it.

Depending on the place, you may have to pay for garbage pickup as well (if you don't want to take your things to the dump).
Also, you may want to include the price of a mailbox, since not all places have mail delivery.

Sample rental unit in which utilities are metered:
Electric oven/stove,fully A/C washer/dryer.
May also include jacuzzi/hot-tub.
Large hot water heater
Dawn to dusk lighted parking/walkways 700- 1200 KWH

Sample rental unit in which utilities are included:
Propane oven/stove(renter to supply propane),no A/C allowed,washer,(maybe) dryer=clothes line.
Walkways maybe lighted by motion sensor(or just bring a flashlight).
On demand hot water heater
Electric used here (est) 250-500 KWH.

The electric included is just as Betty/Juanita stated & rarely works even if supplemental power wording is added to the rental lease agreement such as A/C,or appliances with heating elements being disallowed,or charging.35/kw hr X Xsq.ft. or a percentage of landlords meter.
Incentive is a strong thing!

Or:
Electric (no air,dryer,electric oven)=$70-$150/mo. Bedroom a/c only,add $100/mo.
Propane for cooking & clothes dryer 3-5 100 lb. propane bottles/yr. @approx. $70 ea. or 1-2 /yr.for cooking only
Water .05-.12/gal X from the U.S. Office of Insular Affairs, 50 gallons/day. <<this is average use US,probably FAR more than used here!
Cable $50+ for just above basic/mo.