@Kevin Seith Tear downs are more costly as mentioned by @John Moore there are usually additional costs for permits and engineering and you can't forget having to comply with all the current zoning rules like setbacks, off street parking, sprinkler systems, fire separation, density, lot coverage, and impervious surfaces.

Glad to have you here.Here is a list of some solid Real Estate Investing BooksThey'll help supplement the things you're learning here.

But I understand there may be some sort of hurricane coverage that I know nothing about.The last thing is your interest rate.

William, to my knowledge, you'd need to go to a lender that may provide an insured loan, I don't believe you can go directly to an insurer and get a policy of some kind and take that to a lender.Usually, commercial lenders only require it when a deal is over 80% LTV and on much bigger projects like a mall or large hotel, maybe 300 apartments.Since there are different types of coverage the underwriting will be different, specific to the deal.

I have a lot to learn and look forward to gleaning all I can from this site--and any recommended resources--before I start taking small steps to become my own investor.I'm mostly interested in investing for income as a means of supplementing and diversifying my retirement.

Now, you may want to make sure you have specific landlord issue coverage which may not always be present in an umbrella policy over both your primary residence and your investment property.

Insurance coverage is tough to get & premiums can be high.

When I begin making payments, as most of you know, it will include principal & interest, taxes and insurance.Question:If I plan to move out of my duplex, would I notify my insurance company to convert my coverage from homeowners to rental property insurance?

You can even get into some duplexes to to increase the number of units purchased to help you "move faster".As far as increasing your annual income to purchase more property sooner, you may want to consider starting small business of some sort on the side to supplement your regular income.

I'm speaking strictly for the state of Colorado, you have to be denied coverage by 3 admitted carriers before you can go the E&S (non-admitted) route, and typically E&S policies are more expensive, but perhaps you could get a short term policy that would cover you until you can get the roof fixed, and then go back to your prior carrier...if you still wanted to do business with them.