Water is essential for life. Scientists and doctors will tell you human beings can only manage a couple of days without water. There’s nothing better on a hot summer day or after a vigorous workout.
Unless you’re a landlord.
For people who own property, like so many of you Moguls, water can be a nightmare, causing:
-
Damage to the house
-
Pest infestation
-
Mold and mildew problems
-
High utility bills
As far as landlords are concerned, a house with no water in it would be a dream come true. That ain’t gonna happen. Tenants need water. No water, no tenants. And no profit.
So we have to have water. There are lots of systems in properties to keep water away from damaging the homes. But it still needs to flow. When it flows, the meter is running. When the meter is running, often it’s the landlord who is racking up the bill. Especially in multifamily homes.
One of the biggest users of water in the homes is the toilet. About 20 years ago, toilets would use 3-4 gallons of water per flush. Back then, many landlords resorted to putting a brick in the tank of their toilets. The brick prevented the tank from fully filling up, which cut down on water usage.
Today’s toilets are mandated by law to only use 1.6 gallons per flush. Definitely a savings for you landlords out there, but the smaller volume also leads to more toilet clogs.
Other than the brick, landlords did not have a whole lot of other options to save on their water bills. Especially with the sink.
Faucets are a wild card. Tenants can be very careful with their use of water. Or they can tell themselves ‘I’m not paying for it’ and let the sink run and run. They might let a faucet run for lots of different reasons:
-
Waiting for the water to get hot
-
Get distracted
-
Hate the landlord
-
Doing the dishes and let it run while filling the dishwasher
-
Fill up the tub for a bath
These days it seems like fewer and fewer people take baths, but they do let sink faucets run. We have found some low-tech and high-tech items that can help reduce the amount of water tenants use – and therefore lower your bills.
Why Didn’t I Think of That?
The first way to save money with faucets, and by far the cheapest, is the Smart Faucet. Check out this video about it.
Installation is simple. The manufacturers claim this faucet can save up to 15,000 gallons per year. At $16.95 (as of the writing of this lesson) it will pay for itself in no time. Spread over the faucets in an entire apartment building, the savings would be substantial.
There are three other types of ‘smart’ faucets. (By the way, is it just me or is practically everything today being labeled ‘smart’? Everything it seems, except sometimes the people who use them. Sorry. Just a little rant.)
The 3 types of smart faucets are hands-free, digital and combo.
1. Hands-free are familiar to most people. Public bathrooms everywhere from restaurants to work places have these installed. They are the faucets with the little red IR sensors. They turn on when you wave your hands underneath them and turn off when you remove your hands.
EZ Faucet II from iTouchless is an inexpensive version that is also easy to install. For $60 you can save up to 70% of the water that comes out of the sink. It might not pay for itself as quickly as the Smart Faucet above, but tenants might be more willing to use it.
2. Digital water faucets allow you to set the temperature of the water specifically to what you would like. Some of these faucets will not allow water to start flowing until it reaches the pre-selected temperature. Think about how much water that can save! One designer has come up with a faucet that is similar to the smart thermostats that power many houses these days.
The Grohe F-Digital (below) lets you set the exact temperature you want. The buttons turn the water on and off, and the ring around the outside adjusts pressure. There is also a one-touch button if you are using this for a shower. The button will switch from shower to bath faucet. All of this can also be controlled wirelessly from your smartphone.
3. The combo faucets – combining both IR sensors with temperature controls – are very fancy and expensive. They may be more suitable for flippers who are turning high-end homes. Check out some of these latest designs!
Although many of these technologically advanced faucets cost several hundred dollars each, many of them will pay for themselves in water savings in just a couple of months – especially with renters who aren’t paying the water bills. Many of them are designed to look beautiful as well, which may help raise your rents.
It all comes down to return on investment (ROI) for investors and flippers. Will the faucets, and any other upgrade you put in your property, generate more dollars than they cost. That is a decision you have to make.
Share Below
How do you save money on water in your rentals? Tell us below.
Calculate Your ROI – Before you buy or upgrade a property, make sure it makes sense from a profitability standpoint.
Decide If It’s Worth Going Cheap – Having dirt-cheap rentals saves you money, but it doesn’t make you money. Higher-end rentals will cost more initially, but may make you more in the long run.
Look into Smart Technology – The ‘Internet of Things’ is really catching on and saving people money. Perhaps it’s time to bring your properties into the 21st century.
JP Moses
is a real estate investor in Memphis, TN, with experience ranging from land lording to note buying, rehabbing, and wholesaling. However, wholesaling is the area that he enjoys most and where he bring the most experience and expertise to his students.