For my SFH rental (I rent out the bedrooms with access to shared and community areas of the house), the tenants pay ALL utilities and I, in turn, have never raised the rent. They've been good & clean tenants for many years. My DH mows the lawn but one of the tenants likes to take care of weeding and cleaning and sweeping outside so that works for us. The house is about half a mile away. In my out-of-state townhouse, the water/sewer bill, basic cable, trash, snow removal and landscaping upkeep is included in the HOA fee. In my other house (neighboring city of the townhouse), the tenants are responsible for all utilities and all utilities are in their name. The current tenants have been there for about 4 years without any issues. Since these two places are out of state, I do have a PM who is worth her weight in gold. One of my close friends lives in the townhouse complex and is on the HOA and also keeps an eye on things. All in all, we've been pretty blessed with things.
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