Apartment costs and utilities?

Question

Do monthly payments for apartments in Washington State include the things such as:

>water

>electricity

>and so on......

Answer 1

It's possible.  There are three ways to bill for utilities:

1.  Include it in the rent ("hidden charge")

2.  Ratio Utility Billing (RUBs)

3.  Submetering

With Ratio Utility Billing, a formula is used to determine the amount that each unit will pay for water (often a combination of occupancy and square footage).  

With Submetering, a measuring device is installed in your residence, and it measures the exact amount of water/electricity/gas that you are using so that you can be billed for it.  Submetering is great because if you go out of town or implement conservation measures, then your bill will reflect that and be lower.  Some buildings can't have submeters because of plumbing limitations, but whenever possible, it offers a great advantage to residents.

You cannot be charged a higher rate for your utilities than what the public utilities would charge - so even if you are not accustomed to paying for utilities, it's not a bad situation at all.

Answer 2

It depends on each individual unit.  Some include all utilities, some include SOME utilities, and some include NONE.