Shafiq Hirani CCIMReal Estate Advisor, REMAX Distinctive · Real Estate Advisor at RE/MAX Distinctive Commercial | Washington, DC | Your Guide To Profitable Real Estate Ventures

Stop Wasting Money! Unlock Utility Savings FAST #shorts

9 Jun 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:27

In this short, the speakers explain how utility expenses—especially water, sewer, and common electric—are the quickest source of profit improvement for owners of master‑metered buildings. They describe the problem: owners receive a single utility bill for the whole property and often cannot tell whether bill increases are seasonal, structural, or due to leaks. The presenters introduce a practical detection rule: if the water or sewer bill rises more than 15% for three consecutive months, it is likely a leak or billing error and warrants investigation. They illustrate the rule with a case study where an owner’s water bill had been creeping up over 18 months. By reviewing billing history, they identified a persistent increase that began in a single month and never reversed. A plumber discovered a slow supply‑line leak in the crawl space that had been running for over a year. The repair cost under $500, while the annual savings after fixing the leak approached $9,000, dramatically improving the property’s net operating income. The overall message is that systematic monitoring of utility bills and quick investigation of significant, sustained increases can unlock substantial, fast savings.

Chapters

If there is one area where I consistently find the most money the fastest, it is utilities: water, sewer, common electric. Most owners know their utility bills are high; very few know exactly why. Here is how this works in a master metered building: you receive one bill for the entire property. That bill goes up; you pay it. But you do not always know whether the increase is seasonal. Structural, or a leak. A single undetected slow leak in a toilet, a supply line, an irrigation system can cost $6,000 to $12,000 per year. In most cases, it runs for months before anyone investigates. Here is the threshold I use. If your water or sewer bill increases by more than 15% over 3 consecutive months, that is almost always a leak or a billing error. That is worth investigating before anything else.
I worked with one owner who had been paying a water bill that crept up over 18 months. She assumed it was rate increases. When we pulled the billing history, the pattern was clear. The increase started in a single month and never reversed. A plumber found a supply line leak in the crawl space that had been running slowly for over a year. Repair cost? Under $500. Annual savings from fixing it, just under $9,000. That one discovery changed her NOI picture completely.