Once they've found a place they love, most home shoppers shift to considering the hard numbers: The selling price or the monthly rent, the estimated taxes, the square footage, their mortgage rate, etc. Often lost in the shuffle are questions about the utilities—the gas, electricity, water, and internet services that power a home and make it comfortable and livable.

Utilities exist in the background of our lives, and if you previously rented, some may have been folded into your monthly payment, so many buyers don’t think about them much before moving in. After all, it's not like your new home just won’t have gas and water, right? But there’s a lot more to your utilities than simply having them. Here are the questions you should be asking about the utilities in any home you’re thinking of b

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