I'm now thinking seriously about how real estate investing may help me fulfill my need to diversify out of stocks and create a relatively passive stream of income that will help supplement my retirement and, going forward, help provide long-term for the needs of my adult autistic son.  

It is not my responsibility to minImize my profit, supplement someone’s rent, or in any other way be responsible to provide low income housing.   

They don't mind as long as the property is going to have good cash and your DCR (Debt Coverage Ratio) is above 1.25, because they typically fund them in house. 

If it is what the seller is paying, it’s an indication of what you might be able to get, but I would not assume it’s what you’ll end up paying.A few things to check when doing due diligence on the insurance.....Cutting back the insurance coverage prior to the sale is a strategy to give assets a higher return.The seller may be able to insure the building for what they paid for it 10 years ago, say $100,000, and now you need to insure $200,000 to satisfy the bank loan.  

What has good coverage and is not overpriced for 4-unit buildings ("commercial")?

I don't know of too many commercial lenders that will accept a 28% operating budget for all expenses, they will probably run their debt-coverage test at their pro forma operating expense numbers instead.

If you want to start building equity before you move into it to house hack it at a later point, you might want to consider a turn-key that already has all the leases in place to help with qualifying supplemental income to purchase before moving into it.And later down the road when you are ready to move in, you can pull out the equity in a cash-out refi into an FHA loan and rate.By getting into an FHA after the initial investment N.O.O. loan and interest rate to a Primary Residence FHA  interest rate should be much more favorable.Message me when you are ready to talk.Does that make sense?

It is good to note that there are many private flood options out there and it is a good idea to shop them all to make sure you are getting the best coverage and premium.

Richard,$3500 sound about right if you got coverage from well known carriers.

The property needs some repairs before I can rent it, and I’m in the process of having those repairs done.The insurance company is saying they need proof of a lease in the next 30 days or they will terminate the coverage.