All Forum Posts by: Christina R.

I own a 2 family home in NYC- created and bought the house in an LLC. I live on one side and rent the other side. I am now about to close on a single family rental property in Philadelphia. Buying it all cash and hope to take equity out later on to buy another property.

I'm a little confused as to how I should handle the accounting. Right now for my NYC place, I have a business checking account for the LLC. All rental income stays in that account. I use any rental income to pay for utilities, business expenses pertaining to the house, etc.

I plan to open a new bank account for the Philly house for expenses/income but can it be the bank I use here, or has to have a Philly location? The Philly house will also be in my name and my father's (we went 50/50) so do we create a joint account? Initially, we were planning to split the rental income each month: 50% of profits to me and 50% to him each month. Or should we leave it all in a separate savings account for emergencies? I like high interest online savings accounts better than the measly interest offered in local branches, but the online savings accounts I like don't offer checking accounts. Also, open a personal bank account since not in an LLC? Do we need a separate credit card for expenses too?

Finally, is it worth it or even possible to later put this Philly house into an LLC, especially if we plan to take equity out for another property? I've looked into umbrella policies but because our primary residences are in NYC and not PA, some companies can't offer it to us.

Thanks for any insight!

Great job! A colleague was telling me to invest in Harrisburg, PA as there are decent prices. I’ll have to check how the market is over there.

Hi @Kevin Lefeuvre,

I am in agreement with you and also want the homeowner's liability in case of an unfortunate event. I don't have anything valuable in my rental unit. However, looking for home insurance for STR has been painstaking. It may be easier to leave the mafia! I am based in New York City and unfortunately, AMIG does not cover my area. AAA said they do not offer coverage for STRs, just a regular HO3 policy through Kingstone. Another insurance broker said they have Kingstone too and that they do in fact provide STR coverage. I have looked into them and the reviews are not great. Combine that with the conflicting information about whether they cover STRs or not - I am not sold on them. Geico actually said they have no problem with STRs and do not consider it business activity since it is owner occupied. However, they couldn't cover me because I have a wood frame house vs brick.

I reached out to other agents from State Farm (don't even bother, they do not cover STRs at all) and All-State (yet to hear back after 2-3 weeks). Haven't heard back from a few Farmer's agents for Foremost after 2 weeks as well. I believe they are related to AMIG, which do not cover my area. 

So that leads me to just CBIZ or Proper. CBIZ as you mentioned is about 20% higher. Proper has the same coverage as them, but I thought it was strange they wanted me to get a letter from a licensed plumber and electrician to confirm what type of wiring, etc I had. Then, a week later told me they waived it. So now I am concerned about the questionnaire you mentioned and sales methods. I don't mind paying extra for a good policy, but I like everything up front, no games.

Do you remember what their questionnaire was asking you and what exclusions they ended up adding?

Thanks @Kevin Lefeuvre, great post. I am in a similar situation now and found the same exact things with respect to exclusions and coverage. Did you end up picking a company for your needs?

It was the priciest out of all of them but similar to Proper’s coverage and would replace my homeowner’s/reduce the need for an umbrella. $1k deductible.

Thanks! I haven’t found anything for Foremost or American Mordern either in NY. I did however get a quote from CBIZ. Anyone use them?

Hi @Nancy Bachety were you able to find coverage with anyone yet? And thank you @Matt B. I have heard the same regarding fines and the law. I am in compliance.

That makes sense. One agent I spoke to was recommending that I get a renter's policy for my unit, then pay rent to myself through the LLC. Then, there would be a commercial policy for the rental unit which seemed confusing to me. Ideally I would like, as you suggested, to have a homeowner's policy to cover everything. I will reach out to a local Farmers agent for more details. Thank you.

 Thank you so much, John. I greatly appreciate any information.