All Forum Posts by: Mike Conklin

Thank you, @Michael NorrisI certainly understand the importance of renters having their own insurance. I was unclear what the standard amount to require them to maintain would be. 

I saw $1Million in one post in my search which did not sound right. @Chris K. suggestion of $100k seems much more reasonable. 

I purchased the PA Landlord form from BP as we are getting ready to rent our first duplex. In it is a section on Indemnification insurance, 20.B for those of you that have it. I read this section as the tenant needs rental insurance and includes a box for an amount that they may have no less than.

My first question is am I reading this correctly and it just says the tenant must carry renters insurance? If that is indeed what it is saying, Why would I care how much their policy is for? Is there a standard amount that people use?

Overall this is the tightest lease I have read so far and it was well worth the purchase price. This was the only section i was unclear about. 

@Chris Roche We are converting to gas heat because the house currently has an oil heater that needs to be replaced. I figured if we are spending the money on a new heater, we should ditch the oil at this point. It was included when running the numbers for this property. 

@Joe Splitrock I am certainly leaning towards gas for personal reasons (I have to live there for at least a year!), but could be swayed. Where could I get more information on the costs of electrics vs gas ranges? That is what I was trying to find, but could not get hard information on.

Thank you everyone for your input. I agree with Patrick M. that as the one who cooks, I hate electric.

As a landlord, Mitch C. brought up a good point about the ease of maintenance on electric. 

I think we will go with gas since we will have to live there for at least a year or so, and the tenant we are attracting is a long term, large family or group as this is a 4bed/1.5bath where I imagine they would cook more. Also both units have their own meter for electric/ gas which the tenant will pay both.

My wife and I just purchased our first duplex we are house hacking and in the re-model planning stage for the kitchen. The unit currently has an electric stove that is not worth keeping. We are getting gas ran into the property for HE Gas heater instead of oil heat.

The question is should we stick with electric stove or run the plumbing and make it a gas stove? Money is NOT the factor here, but rather which is more tenant friendly; gas or electric?

I have had people tell me they do not like gas ranges because of open flames or fear of fire. My wife and I feel electric is more dangerous because the surface could be hot long after you turn it off and you are more likely to burn food because you cannot control the temperature as well.

We see valid points on both sides of the argument so would like to know what you all have in your rentals and for what reasons?

@Demetris Jones Thanks I will have to check them out.

@Matt Daley Awesome! We are currently working on building our team (accountant, Lawyer, Realtor, contractor, etc.) I would love to talk with you about your experience and potentially use your services. Please PM me with your contact.

@Gregory H. I would like to stay in this area with the house hacking due to primary job and family, but with the other properties I am willing to go where the math makes sense.

@Joe White Thank you. As I said to Gregory I am willing to go where the numbers work.

@Natalie Vane Great question. My home actually has appreciated in the 4 years I have owned it to where I was able to cancel my PMI by simply paying for a re-evaluation. I say it is not a great investment because it does not met the 2% or even the 1% rule of thumb to produce good cashflow. I would rather sell my current home, and use the equity towards the multifamily. I will certainly use those questions to help find a good realtor. Thank you.

@Daming Chung, Welcome. I have just joined myself and from the greater Philadelphia area. It's great to meet someone who is starting out as well and enjoys tabletop gaming! 

Hi, all! My name is Mike, and my Wife and I are wanting to start in RE investing. We currently live in Ambler, PA, right outside the city of Philadelphia.

We both work full time and want to start a family soon. We would like to replace my wife's salary in the next few years with passive cash flow so she can raise our kids full time. After that we would continue with RE investing until I do not have to rely on my salary as well.

I found bigger pockets and it's podcast by google-ing about how to get started and have learned a lot in a short amount of time.

We currently own (mortgage) our home but have discovered its not the investment I thought it was when I purchased it years ago.

We hope to have our first cash-flowing house by the end of 2017. Currently looking for a nice multi-family to start house hacking.

I joined BP to engage with like-minded people who can learn from each other and grow. I hope to give back as much as I have received already one day.