I currently own two small mobile home parks in Idaho and want to rehab them. According to the Huge Profits course first thing I should start out with is water meters. This is where i’m a little stuck. Who installs them(plumber, handyman, city, ect.) second how do I bill (do I receive water bill then split it up, does city read each meter, ect.) third where do I get these meters and where are they usually placed. Any help would be appreciated
Thank You in advance
Brian Bellante
Brian,
Most times your handyman will install the water meter (it is much cheaper that way).
The parts cost (about):
Water meter - $35 +/- for the standard water meter (The contact information is on the MHU.com great links page) You can buy water meters with more bells and whistles, i.e. digital readouts but the cost is $100+ per meter.
Plastic box - Covers the water meter to protect from being damaged. We buy the boxes at a lcal hardware store. The boxes are usually 14" high x 14" wide x 20" long (more or less)
Shut off valve - (before or after the water meter). Installing a shut off valve will allow you to shut off the water to the home to make repairs without shutting off the water to the park.
It normally takes an hour or two (depending upon what type of pip is in the ground… copper or PVC pipe) to install the water meter.
With some of our mobile home parks, the city reads the water meter and bills directly the tenant. Other mobile home parks that we have the city does not want to get involved and we read the meters/bill the tenants directly. We use Micro Edison as a third party administrator (see MHU.com great links page for contact information) to provide us the bills and ensure that we are in compliance at all times.
Corey