Considering the option of tear down and build a new house, I was wandering if there's an average percentage difference in insuring a new home vs an older house?  

Ok, I'll bite.....give an example of a home that is affordable, sustainable and desired by many.Remember it is critical that you as the business owner (and your partners/investors) make a good profit after paying overhead and operating expenses.

When you start reading about this and searching the internet one thing I find is true... there are many LLC formation services that claim to do a bunch of stuff, several of them sell expensive "education" packages which just get a foot in the door to sell more services, and other do-it-yourselfers (legal zoom)ut.  

Living in Vancouver, you already know how expensive it is to invest here and how its ultimately a losing proposition.

Also because my partner and I have family here, so we do not want to venture too far for our first property.We want to start off house hacking to reduce our living expenses, but specifically looking for properties that will cash flow once we move out of that unit.

I've included an example below to help illustrate this.So different lenders have different rates (which do vary even for DSCR loans) but these are factors they all consider.See example below:DSCR < 1Principal + Interest = $1,700Taxes = $350, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $50Total PITIA = $2200Rent = $2000DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2000/2200 = 0.91Since the DSCR is 0.91, we know the expenses are greater than the income of the property.DSCR >1Principal + Interest = $1,500Taxes = $250, Insurance = $100, Association Dues = $25Total PITIA = $1875 Rent = $2300DSCR = Rent/PITIA = 2300/1875 = 1.23DSCR lenders generally let you vest either individually or as an LLC.

It is either rented or it's not and when it's not it can quickly become a financial alligator.I would be surprised if a duplex in Lansing was more expensive than a single family house in Maine.As far as managing from a distance without a property manager, I would not advise it personally.

It currently rents out at about a $100 cash flow including expenses. 

Rather than seeing two travel nurses traveling together and splitting expenses I find it's more common to see a couple traveling together.

The reasons are 1- less competition in commercial2- greater property types lead to more opportunities for “value added”3- commercial net income projections include expense for property management, 1-4 unit residential usually do not4- greater “universe” of properties to buy allow higher minimum return standards Of course residential is MUCH easier to successfully deal in, and with reasonable leverage has small downside risk, so I 100% agree that most investors should stick with residential.