Owning an apartment multiplex can either be a landlord's cash cow or a financial nightmare. If you currently own such a building and the property is hovering somewhere between cash cow and nightmare, you may be looking for ways to cut expenses. One such way is known as a predominant use study. Here is more on that and how it can help you, as a landlord and owner of a multiplex apartment building, save more money.
The Predominant Use Study
A predominant use study is an in-depth study and report of how a company, business, factory, or other commercial property uses and consumes energy. The electrical and gas consumption are closely monitored for a period of several months to determine which areas of the building consume the most energy sources. You may find that you have only one or two tenants who use a lot of gas and electricity, or everyone in the building just wastes gas and electricity. The latter is pretty common on rental properties where utilities are included in the price of rent. When tenants have to pay for one or more utilities themselves, they are more cautious about their consumption.
How the Study Helps You
If your heating, cooling, and gas/propane expenses are through the roof, and you foot the bill so that the tenants only have to pay rent, it may be quite expensive indeed. You may have to create set rules for utility consumption in the building, or you may have to raise the rent on all units to compensate for the waste of gas and electricity. It may also be possible to offer tenants the choice of raised rent, or paying their utilities on their own. These options are well within your legal rights as a landlord and property owner, so long as you give your tenants more than adequate notice of these changes.
Controlling Energy Consumption in Other Ways
If the predominant use study shows that there is not a really big difference in consumption from one month to the next, you may decide to approach this problem from a different angle. Using low-flow shower heads, rationing electric use for certain hours of the day, and utilizing LED bulbs throughout the building can make quite a difference in the bill. Tenants who are home all day can make bids for blocks of time to use electricity and they sign contracts agreeing to it. Other tenants at night will need to share the rationed hours to reduce overall costs and contribute to lower rents.
For more information about predominant use studies and ways to lower your building's utility costs, talk to a company like Utility Consultants Inc.
Share21 February 2017
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