My wife and I have owned a single family rental house in Indianapolis for 1 year and are trying to decide between an LLC versus a personal umbrella policy.

If there is any kind of damage to the house because of a natural cause if you approach the insurance company without a landlord's insurance they will outright deny your claim.If you have a mortgage the bank will insist that you have landlord insuranceTenant has renter's insurance.

I want to buy a 1 to 4 unit multifamily and house hack it (live in one unit and rent out the others).

If in 20 years the house you purchased is worth 2-3X what you paid for it, and has been paying you cash flow per month that is equivalent (or better) than what the principal would generate for you, are you even going to care that you had a bigger tax bill one year 2 decades ago?

I understand that of course that would bring higher paying jobs but how does that drive the housing prices up.

And while short-term rentals are the big draw here, there’s also growing demand for mid-term rentals from snowbirds and traveling professionals, as well as long-term housing for the increasing number of permanent residents.Yes, higher interest rates are a factor, but the strong rental demand in the Panhandle often helps offset those costs.

That is a great place to start, as well as hitting some local real estate investor meetups so you can meet some other house hackers in person who have done what you want to do.

I then connect them with a trusted realtor since we do not have in-house.

You might want to consider doing a house hack to help you qualify for more.

Ask if their handyman is in-house--which I've seen turn into a "charge up to the owner authorization threshold for every single visit".