Other than saving a certain amount from each rent payment (for taxes, insurance, PM, general repairs, maintenance, Cap X, and vacancy), does anyone have a rule of thumb for what a good amount of reserves would be for a SFH or any 1-4 unit property? 

Current owner has had no issues in the 6 years of ownership and no issues insuring.

From the liability/asset protection side always use licensed and insured vendors, build out a robust contract management system, make sure the owner is always listed as additional insured.

The insurance company wants to fulfill its obligations to the insured, and the construction company wants to keeps its employees happy, working and retained while they travel to a job site.

If you do, you should consider consulting an attorney to discuss what you should have in place, and make sure your insurance company understands the setup as well and the potential increase for that scenario.Hope that helps.Mike

This means that the property's annual net operating income (NOI) must be at least 1.25 times greater than its annual debt service.Calculate the property's NOI: To calculate the property's NOI, subtract all operating expenses (such as property taxes, insurance, and maintenance) from the property's gross income.

The furniture in the unit is ours, so we are responsible for that.We do get a separate lessee insurance policy on the furniture and such that we've placed in the condo, and we require our sub-lessees to get a policy as well.

This creates two loan payments ($100,000 of equity and $300,000 on the new mortgage).Key NumbersHome Equity Loan Interest Rate: 6%Mortgage Interest Rate: 7%Rental Income: $3,000 per monthExpenses (management, taxes, insurance, maintenance): $800 per monthIncome and ExpensesMonthly Rental Income: $3,000Monthly Expenses: $800Monthly Mortgage Payment: $2,000ExplanationThe investor earns $3,000 in rent each month.They pay $2,000 on the investment property mortgage and $800 on other expenses.This leaves $200 profit each month or $2,400 per year.However, you have to pay $6,000 interest on the equity borrowed.This leaves you with an annual loss of $3,600.This example shows that while the rental property generates positive monthly income, the interest cost of borrowing the initial $100,000 results in an overall annual loss.

Nowadays, you need to work backwards:Start with your target ROIFigure out what the likely rent will beDeduct taxes, insurance, maintenance, vacancy, etc.Using what's left, determine what mortgage payment can be supported to reach your ROIFigure out, given current rates, what the P&I mortgage payment => mortgage amountAdd your 20-25% down paymentTHAT IS THE NUMBER YOU OFFER!

When switching over insurance,do I provide the lender with a STR/Landlord policy or do I purchase regular home insurance to send to lender and STR/ Landlord policy for my protection.