Other income is all multifamily property revenue that is not base rent, including utility reimbursements, application and admin fees, late charges, pet rent, parking, and amenity fees. It sits between gross rent and effective gross income on the operating statement. Operators treat it as a controllable revenue lever that flows straight to net operating income.
What Is Other Income in Multifamily?
Other income is the sum of every recurring and one-time revenue source a rental property collects beyond scheduled base rent. Per the National Apartment Association, ancillary revenue accounted for 5.9 percent of total revenue in its 2019 Survey of Operating Income and Expenses. Common lines include utility bill-backs, parking, pet rent, and administrative fees.
The largest single component is usually utility reimbursement. With a Ratio Utility Billing System, or RUBS, owners allocate water, sewer, and trash costs back to residents by unit size and occupancy. Azibo reports RUBS typically recovers 30 to 40 percent of utility costs, converting an expense into recovered revenue. Adventures in CRE defines other income as any income a property generates outside of rent.
Category | Examples |
Utility reimbursements | RUBS water, sewer, trash, submetered electric and gas |
Fees | Application, admin, late, transfer, month-to-month premiums |
Recurring add-ons | Pet rent, reserved parking, storage, valet trash, internet |
One-time charges | Move-in fees, key and lockout charges, damage recovery |
Why Other Income Matters
Other income matters because it raises gross potential revenue, and at a market cap rate that added income capitalizes into property value. A dollar of recurring other income carries a high margin, so it converts to net operating income at a higher rate than base rent. MMG Real Estate Advisors calls it the revenue lever that matters more in 2026 as rent growth stays muted.
The operator-side discipline is separating durable other income from one-time charges. A pet rent or RUBS line recurs every month and belongs in stabilized underwriting. A stack of one-time move-out damage recoveries does not. An underwriter who capitalizes non-recurring fees at a cap rate manufactures value that will not survive the first full year of operations.
Example
A 150-unit property collects $1,400 per unit in monthly base rent, or $2,520,000 annually. Its other income runs $85 per unit per month across RUBS, pet rent, parking, and fees. That is $12,750 per month, or $153,000 annually, equal to 5.7 percent of the $2,673,000 combined total, in line with the NAA range.
Component | Per unit monthly | Annual (150 units) |
Base rent | $1,400 | $2,520,000 |
Other income | $85 | $153,000 |
Total revenue | $1,485 | $2,673,000 |
Other income share | n/a | 5.7% |
If the operator adds a $25 per unit valet trash program with a $9 per unit cost, the $16 net margin across 150 units adds $28,800 in annual net operating income. At a 5.5 percent cap rate, that single program capitalizes into roughly $524,000 of value ($28,800 divided by 0.055).
Variations and Edge Cases
Other income behaves differently by asset class and by how durable each line is, so the same headline figure can mean stable margin or fragile padding. The table below covers the variants an underwriter confirms before crediting other income to a pro forma.
Variant | Treatment |
RUBS reimbursement | Recurring and durable; typically recovers 30 to 40 percent of utility cost |
One-time fees | Move-in and damage charges; exclude from stabilized recurring income |
Bad debt offset | Uncollected fees reduce realized other income below billed amounts |
Regulated markets | Some jurisdictions cap or ban RUBS, application, or junk fees |
Affordable housing | Fee income is often restricted under regulatory agreements |
The most common mistake is booking billed other income rather than collected other income. Late fees and damage charges are frequently written off, so realized other income after bad debt is the number that reaches effective gross income.
Other Income vs Effective Gross Income
Other income is often confused with effective gross income, and they sit at different points on the same statement. Other income is one input line: all non-rent revenue a property collects. Effective gross income is the total, combining base rent plus other income and then subtracting vacancy and bad debt losses.
The relationship is additive then subtractive. Gross potential rent plus other income gives gross potential revenue. Subtracting vacancy loss and credit loss yields effective gross income, the top line from which operating expenses are deducted to reach net operating income. Other income is a component of effective gross income, never a synonym for it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as other income in multifamily real estate?Other income is all property revenue that is not base rent. It includes utility reimbursements through RUBS, application and admin fees, late charges, pet rent, reserved parking, storage, and amenity fees. Per the National Apartment Association, ancillary revenue was 5.9 percent of total revenue in its 2019 survey.
How does other income affect NOI and value?Other income raises gross potential revenue and flows to net operating income at a high margin. Because value is net operating income divided by the cap rate, adding recurring other income directly increases property value. A $28,800 net income boost at a 5.5 percent cap rate adds about $524,000 in value.
Is RUBS considered other income?Yes. Utility reimbursement through a Ratio Utility Billing System is typically the largest single line of other income. Azibo reports RUBS recovers roughly 30 to 40 percent of utility costs, converting a property expense into recurring recovered revenue that lifts net operating income.
Related Terms
Effective Gross Income
Net Operating Income
Economic Occupancy
Operating Expense Ratio
Market Rent