All Forum Posts by: Elijah Batkoski

I guess I just have a lot of questions surrounding tax implications of the home I've purchased.

How I should be keeping up with receipts/purchases, which ones qualify as tax write-offs, home office/travel expenses, paying contractors, holding costs..

And then the tax differences if I decide to sell it right away vs rent it for a year, vs just renting it forever. Stuff like that; I have a decent idea of all of that but I would love for it to be put into simple terms for me from someone who has experience/knowledge in the field. I want to get the most I can out of my investment, obviously, and my investments moving forward. 

Thanks!

Hey @Steven Hamilton II!

I saw a post just like this a couple below me, then read your response.. and then anticipated the impending stupidity I'd feel from making you have to comment that all over again, ha!

Maybe I should just be talking to you :P

Cheers,

Elijah

Hello,

I made my first purchase back in July.

Just getting a feeler out here to see if anyone can suggest or if there are any CPAs/tax professionals on here that I could have a meeting with.

Haven't decided if I'm going to sell or rent yet so I have a handful of questions.

Thanks in advance!

Elijah

@Jay Neil

I'd have to agree! Thanks for stopping by the post!

Thanks everyone for the comments!

@Account Closed - Thanks for the info on the PM company and the duplexes. I think Zebulon is a great market (I think Knightdale has a lot of potential right now as well), so we'll see how this goes! Hoping to get good long term tenants too (isn't that everyone's dream?!)

@Derrick Craig

Thanks for the input, it's much appreciated!

Yeah, definitely fixing up the kitchen and bathrooms nicely. My dad owns a MHP..low income housing.. so he was like "oh we can keep this sink, oh these countertops will work", because he's used to people not wanting nicer things and just trashing them anyway, but I'm obviously planning on taking a different approach to my properties.  I was thinking of taking wood laminate throughout the home.. The kitchen is in an open floor plan with a fireplace/living area, so I wanted to make it constant flooring so they could throw a dining table in without having to worry about room separation lines. 

@Matthew Saskin

Thanks for the comment! Didn't know I'd find fellow Zebulon investors here so easily. I would be interested in the PM info, I'm not looking to get one now, as I will only have one property and I don't want to cut into my profits with only one to worry about, but in the future I'm planning on acquiring one, so a referral would be great. 

As for the financials of the deal.. I wish that I would have gotten it a little cheaper, of course. However, this will be my first and I wanted to just go ahead and jump in instead of waiting around for that "perfect property". It's a brick property that looks fantastic on the outside with all new windows, a newer roof, and newer HVAC unit, so I went for it. Obviously being in at ~95K and getting ~$1100 in rent is not close to the "2% rule" we hear so much about, but it still gives me ~$200 in my pocket each month with factoring in heavy expenses/vacancy. It's my first, so I don't have much to compare it to, if you have any specific questions I'd be glad to answer them as best I can.

Where about are your duplexes in Zebulon? I'm interested in MFH as well, just haven't done much searching on them. Thanks!

@Account Closed

Thanks for the comment! And advice!

House was built in 1973, I haven't gotten an inspection yet but I have one lined up before closing. I'll post a picture of what they have on Trulia:
http://www.trulia.com/homes/North_Carolina/Zebulon...

The windows are fairly new, which is nice. Pretty much all painting/flooring, keeping the wood cabinets because they're in decent shape, just going to paint them and throw some new hardware on them. Baths need a deep clean, needs one new toilet and one vanity. Also needs a stove, fridge, and kitchen countertops (probably would be fine with what they have, but I want to do it right to attract responsible tenants). 

I will not be using a PM, the property is ~25 minutes from me, and ~10 minutes from my contractor/handyman and my parent's (my dad has a MHP in town). I figure maybe when I get more properties I'll try to find a PM, but as for now, I don't want to cut into my profits with only 1 property to worry about. 

Awesome advice on the rent sign while renovations are going on. I want to get someone in there as soon as possible!

Hi @Tammy Vitale!

So the Hubzu process was pretty straight forward. I found the property on Trulia/Zillow and it pointed me to the Hubzu site to bid. I had to register, fairly painless, and when placing the bid I got to choose a few options. I had to bid with a Realtor ID/Firm, and I got to choose things like how many days I would need to close, and how many days I would need to find financing, etc. The bidding continues until the reserve is met (it can still continue afterwards, but that's what needs to be hit to move forward). My process was a little funky, the reserve was 68,000, and I had the winning bid at 72,000..however they didn't go with it and put it back up for auction the next week, in which I bid 72,000 again and won it again, then they sent over a Purchase and Sale agreement. The seller can choose to negotiate with the bidders even if reserve isn't met, and they can choose to decline an offer even if it is. 

Since then, I've filled out the PSA and they're supposed to send back a signed one today (I didn't change much). The PSA was definitely a "seller's contract" so I'm a bit worried about that. I'll let you know how it all pans out around the closing date! (June 26th)

One odd thing is that there was no inspection contingency, so be wary of properties that don't provide that, and also there was a 4.5% "buyer's premium" and $300 "technology fee".. just add those into your final bid price when doing your math.

Thanks for your comment.

@Dave Hurt

Thanks man! Here's to many more, hope it all goes smoothly.. I want to be one of those "lucky" first time buyers. :P