Electric vs Gas Heat!

[Haley Bray]

Hello!

My name is Haley and I joined Bigger Pockets about two months ago! I am getting into real estate with my boyfriend and we are primarily focused on multi unit rentals in the Dayton area! We just finished our first live in renovation (I would say flip but let's just say the first one took more time and money than expected... surprise, surprise). We have been house hacking for the past year and it has been very rewarding but challenging too as I am sure all of you house hackers know. Our plan has been to work on this house, save as much money from our 9-5's as possible and learn as much as we can through books, forums and mentors before selling and using the profits to get into multi-family units. Now we just have to find our next house hack and put our current home on the market! Now that you have the back story on me, I am going to jump right in to asking for a little bit of advice! :)

My boyfriend is the pro member of the two of us and we use the tools frequently to calculate deals. The market is HOT right now meaning we spend a lot of time on the MLS and other sites looking for a deal. I found a deal today on a duplex, both sides have two beds one bath, that cash flows $250 in total and has a 12.51% cash on cash ROI. This is with current rent rates, which after evaluating on Rentometer Pro, are under the average rents in this area. From what I can tell by assessing the pictures, it just needs some cosmetic fixes at this time. The only thing we are unsure about is the fact that it has electric heat and window units which would make the electric bill pricey...

My question is: As a rental property owner/investor, do you become disinterested in properties with electric heat when looking for a property to buy? Have you purchased a property with electric heat or window units and had complaints/turnover due to electric bills? 

I know I prefer gas heat but I also know that I have rented apartments many of times that have had electric heat.

I would love to hear from anyone and everyone!

Haley

[Pat L.]

We've inherited a couple with electric heat & I upgraded the baseboard units or replaced them with recessed wall units with blowers.  BUT it is expensive compared to forced air NG. Then again a lot of tenants get HEAP so they get assistance for their utility bills & haven't complained. In fact in one 2 bedroom unit the tenant tells me with window a/c's his electric runs higher than their heat/month. 

I installed a complete system in a 1000 sqft ranch rental but I also upgraded the panel to 100amps & ran all new 10ga wiring & 240V double-pole 30amp circuit breakers to branches of the units in series. Cost to me was about $1500.

We have another multi with a huge NG boiler & I have quickly learned a LOT about hydronics, $118 solenoid zone valves & nursing that old beast. It supplies 5 units plus the laundry room, hallways etc etc & it averages $300/month but the rents more than compensate & the tenants all pay their own electric.