[Calc Review] Duplex in Colorado mountains

[Sarah Duncan]

I'm a first-time investor looking to move into a small MFU, rent out the other unit(s), and rent my current single-family house. 

The duplex in the report is in the mountains, but close enough to commute to downtown Denver. There is a public transit bus a few miles away with an express route to downtown. The property has been listed since June and has already been reduced in price from $435K to $385K.

One 2/1 unit was recently remodeled and is being leased for $1550/month. The other 2/1 unit has not been remodeled and has a month-to-month renter for $950. If we bought this property, we'd live in the second unit and probably remodel it in stages as we save up for our next investment. We'd personally manage the other unit, but we'd hire a property manager for our SFH due to distance.

Questions:

1. How do I analyze rentals when we'll be living in one unit? In the report, I entered the remodeling costs estimated by the broker (I'm guessing based on the costs for the other unit) and $1550 in rent for each unit, even though we'd only be getting half that.

2. Should I form an LLC?

Thanks for looking at this!

View report

*This link comes directly from our calculators, based on information input by the member who posted.