Less to manage as most times you won't be billing back the utility bill as normal usage is factored into the bill BUT the tenant is accountable for excess usage protecting you from abuse of the utilities. 

John,The policy you should be looking for is normally a Renovation Builders Risk policy. 

Normally they're asking where those funds came from. 

Not looking to game the system and using the property for ourselves is part of the plan as it's where we normally vacation anyway, so considering that the 10% down payment is much more appealing if we are able to balance out the rules and keep the cash flow positive. 

Hello all! I am out of state investing in the Cleveland market and I have a property I'm looking to close on! As such I'm shopping around for property managers. I'm getting concerned because I know from all my BP read...

One guess would be that with CDs bringing in 5%, a good property will beat that in normal appreciation over a few years....more with forced appreciation.....

They decided to pass on the house, and are under contract on a different house with a normal layout and a garage.

By way of example, if you as the GP's identified this unique rear yard development opportunity that others overlooked and acquired this land at a low basis and/or obtained all of the entitlements where there is imputed equity and let's say a bank will now finance the property at a higher LTC than normal transactions, that is an example of why you can justify more favorable splits.

What do you guys think, is this normal?

However, the vacancy is really low in my area and prices are really high so it’s a gamble most house hackers take.