"All Utilities Included" (Arlington: apartments, renters, condos)

[Kophi]

This is one of those things that I keep meaning to ask about, but haven't
gotten bored enough to actually do so.

It's regarding the difference in how much in the way of utilities are covered
by rental and condo fees between Ashburn and Arlington.

Arlington seems to have more in the way of rental fees that cover all
utilities. Even one condo owner I know of shared that their condo fee covers
all utilities. Meanwhile, over in Ashburn, it's next to impossible to find a
rental fee, or even a condo fee, that goes as far as covering all utilities.

Can anyone shed light on this deep, dark, mystery?


-

[NCN]

Many times condos get a better deal if they buy everyone's utilities together. We own a timeshare in South Carolina which is less than all the condos there so I went for a visit and learned the price of a one bedroom unit to be a vacation unit all the time. The cost was not much but when I checked on the condo fee it covered all the units in the place and the cost was beyond what I wanted to pay. I got the impression, but am not sure, they take all the expenses and divide them equally among all the units which for most people would be a bargain but for someone like us who would only spend maybe a week a month, it was out of reason. We would have to rent out our condo in order to cover the extra cost. I didn't want anyone else staying in my private condo. I also didn't want to be paying the expenses of those who bought the condos as an investment and would be renting them to people on vacation who probably would not care if they did things like leave the door open to the deck with the air or heat on.

[Flamingo13]

Not sure why it's a mystery - it's offered or it's not - depending on whether individual units have individual meters, etc. - I personally would NOT want a place that I had no control of my own use/conservation of utilities.

[22003yo]

In most cases they are older buildings which were apartments at one time and then converted into condos. In most cases it's a much better deal to pay them yourself.

When a landlord rents his unit out, those renters could care less about conserving energy. Some people are just oblivious, A/C low on freon? Whatever I'll let it run 24 hours a day, I'm not paying the electricity bill directly. And so on.

[boyd888]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

Not sure why it's a mystery - it's offered or it's not - depending on whether individual units have individual meters, etc. - I personally would NOT want a place that I had no control of my own use/conservation of utilities.

Have you ever seen a place that didn't have thermostats in each unit?

In Arlington I would say very few places cover utilities...as stated people do very little to conserve energy when they aren't directly footing the bill (especially apartments).

For owners the condo fee might cover some stuff, but you are still paying for it in that sense and I'm sure the association would reign you in if you had insane utility bills.

[Flamingo13]

Of course you have a thermostat but in many places the heat and a/c are only turned on for the year when they decide (if there is a heat wave in May, too bad because there is no a/c yet, etc.)

[RecessionCasualty]

What a pp said. It's generally with the older buildings BECAUSE everything is hooked up to one system. Keep in mind though- you can't control the heat/ac and if you are late expect a cold shower. I did that for a year- in the middle of Winter the windows and doors were opened because it felt like Hades in there while I had to run fans in the Summer even though the AC was running. Top it off the bills/fees were pretty high for not so great service. Trust me, you will want to be able to control your own temp for everything.

Edited to add Ashburn is still a rather young area. I remember when it was still farmland in the 90's. That is why it's rare to come by apartments that are running on one unit. One main unit buildings seemed to be big in the 50's-60's to **no idea when they stopped building complexes like that**

[boxus]

Utilities being included does not mean you cannot control the temperature in your unit.

[leighland]

Originally Posted by boxus

Utilities being included does not mean you cannot control the temperature in your unit.

Exactly

Many times there will be a control inside the unit for more heat/less heat and more ac/less ac. These do not control the hvac in your unit but adjust the the angle of the louvers in the baseboard covers

In NOva, most heat/ac are electric not gas

Generally, landlords cover water/trash, any fees and taxes.

If you are to pay the electric, you can ask what the utilities range. I've lived in 2 townhomes in Nova, with electric hvac and my bill is about 100$/month. That includes lights, laundry, etc.

[boxus]

Originally Posted by leighland

Exactly

Many times there will be a control inside the unit for more heat/less heat and more ac/less ac. These do not control the hvac in your unit but adjust the the angle of the louvers in the baseboard covers

In NOva, most heat/ac are electric not gas

Generally, landlords cover water/trash, any fees and taxes.

If you are to pay the electric, you can ask what the utilities range. I've lived in 2 townhomes in Nova, with electric hvac and my bill is about 100$/month. That includes lights, laundry, etc.

The two buildings I lived in I could turn on the HVAC system turn on to blow the AC/heat, like a regular house.