All Electric House to Forced Air

[Bryce K.]

We own several all electric houses in Lorain County in Ohio.  These homes (entire neighborhoods) were built in the late 1970s with 200 Amp service, heated only with electric baseboards.  These homes do not have basements, they are slabs and split levels.  No provision for forced air, or air conditioning at all.  Several of these neighborhoods still do not have natural gas service.  We have upgraded the baseboards to hydronic, and upgraded the old mercury thermostats to digital, and added insulation in all areas, which has helped to reduce winter time electric bills, but tenant turnover remains high due to lack of summertime cooling, and high wintertime electric bills (electric bills range from $50 to $400).  Window AC units work in some of the homes, but many have casement windows, which do not lend themselves to window AC.  The huge upside is that electric appliances and baseboard heaters last for decades and decades with minimal upkeep.  

So, we just closed on another all electric home, but this one has a gas line at the street. Columbia gas will tie in and place a meter for free, and the attic of this home will allow all ducting to be fairly simple. We have an estimate to install a forced air furnace and AC, allowing natural gas heating and traditional air conditioning. The quote is for $17.7k, but the company is offering 60 months 0% financing, bringing the payment to about $300/month. Total cost of ownership of this home is currently $800/month, adding the HVAC to that will be $1100/month (this accounts for everything, maintenance, turnover, vacancy, PITI, etc). Rent was estimated to be $1500, forced air may allow us to raise it to $1600. The forced air HVAC is expected to reduce turnover, increase property value (not a major factor, but nice), and possibly allow us to increase rent. Downsides are the initial cost, and the increased maintenance cost (baseboard heaters last forever, we have our furnaces inspected every 6 months for $80, and lifespan is projected to be 10-15 years).

Do you add the forced air, or no?