Controlling Utility Expenses
In many cases, especially multi-family properties, the owner pays some of the utility expenses for the residents. This may be the water and sewer, trash, and even heating bills. There are many ways to ensure your owner paid utilities are as efficient as possible, and we’re going to focus on water savings in this post. EPM Iowa manages many complexes in the Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Cedar Rapids areas and when we do our bi-yearly inspections, we watch for these kinds of waste!
At an apartment complex, water can be saved by installing low-flow plumbing fixtures, such as showerheads and faucets, and encouraging tenants to use water-saving techniques, such as taking shorter showers and turning off the tap when brushing teeth. Additionally, landlords can encourage tenants to use a dishwasher instead of hand-washing dishes, as this uses less water than hand-washing. Landlords can also educate tenants on the importance of water conservation and provide incentives for tenants who conserve water, such as discounts on their monthly rent.
A very effective way to ensure your residents are keeping up on their homes and taking care of your property is to do inspections. Many managers avoid doing inspections because they don’t want to inconvenience the residents or they feel like they’re invading the residents’ privacy. We encourage you to get over these feelings and make sure you’re doing inspections on your properties!! You have every right to ensure your (very expensive) asset is being taken care of and your residents are doing their part. We always take the opportunity in our inspections to ensure that toilets and faucets aren’t dripping or running. A running toilet can consume more than 30 gallons per day, or 930 gallons per month!! That could be $25/month or $300 per year.
So update your plumbing fixture to low flow fixtures and make sure to do your inspections at least twice per year to make sure you don’t have any leaks or running toilets!