Ceiling Fans In Every Room & Boiler Heat VS. HVAC in Pennsylvania

[Petur Karlsson]

I closed on my first rental property in Bucks county, PA last month (woot woot!!) It's one of twin units in a brick house, three stories high including an attic which we will be converting into a master bed and bath to turn the apartment from a 3 bed 1 bath into a 4 bed 2 bath with 300 some added square feet of livable space. The property was built in 1910 and the last occupant was fourth generation of the same family that constructed it originally! 

All around the house is radiator heating with a gas powered boiler in the basement on an elevated concrete slab. The boiler looks in good condition (although possibly  somewhat old) and heating is near instant with all radiators functioning properly, the radiators look relatively new. I will have someone take a look at the boiler soon to give me clues about it's age and condition but if it's looking promising, it feels crazy to not make use of it while saving on the budget.

We have to tear up the ceiling on the first floor before installing drywall as well as opening up walls to feed plumbing and new wiring for outlets, light fixtures, switches, etc.. We are planning to put in ceiling fans in each bedroom and the living room, as well as insulating the roof a little bit because the crumbling plaster has got to go and make way for drywall anyway. Some windows need replacement as well and will have an improved thermal rating than the ones from god knows when in the last century.

Due to the renovations opening up space to make an HVAC installation more seamless, I have the possibility of taking that approach if the boiler is likely to crap out within the next several years. 

Would you, my amazing Bigger Pockets community, deem HVAC to be an option worth exploring vs. the boiler / ceiling fan & insulation combo IF THE BOILER NEEDS REPLACEMENT? Naturally I'm looking for the highest possible ARV and rent but I'd be saving massive bucks if I can just stick to what's in there with the added ceiling fans providing air conditioning, and I fear that installing HVAC would not provide a sufficient amount of value-add vs. the cost savings of not having it installed. Note, this is south-east Pennsylvania so the summers can get hot and humid in my opinion as an Icelander but nothing like the more southern US states.

I'm willing to explore all options and am literally at the beginning of my RE investing career, any and all help and comments are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance, you guys.

[David Lee Hall, III]

@Petur Karlsson - Take a look at the local rentals on Craigslist and Zillow. Do they have HVAC at your target rental rate? If not, how much could you raise the rent with it? If you aren't replacing the boiler and there is no expected rent gain then my opinion is you are just throwing money away. If you think you can get an extra $100-$125/mo with air conditioning then your investment would likely pay for itself in 5-10 years. If you want highest ARV go all out and get seperate mini-split systems for each unit! :-D That would likely be cost prohibitive though. Also remember a boiler can ofter last 30-40 years where forced air is more likely 20. My primary focus would be on cashflow. In short if you are not increasing rents for your upgrades, I would avoid said upgrades.