All Forum Posts by: Ben Lukes

Does anyone know a good handyman or plumber in the Bremerton area?  I need to get a kitchen sink looked at (possibly replaced) and have a leaky shower faucet that needs to be fixed.

Many thanks!

Thanks @Troy Fisher, you guys put on great events.  I highly recommend them to anyone who hasn't attended yet.  I won't be able to make it up to Tulalip this time, but maybe in the future.

Thanks @Mihir Bhimaraju.  So it sounds like this is probably stuff you'd be entering on a Schedule E?

I'm probably going to start renting out my personal apartment on some weekends, which is why I ask.  This means I most likely can't claim depreciation (I'm not a CPA, so I can't say with 100% confidence - but it wouldn't make sense), but all the other tax write-offs I will be happy to take.  If you pay someone to clean the unit I suppose that could be written off as well?

@Mihir Bhimaraju Would you be willing to share some more details on the tax benefits here so everyone can benefit from your knowledge?

Of course we all understand that you are not giving tax advice and are not (I'm guessing) a CPA, but it would be great to hear more about your experience with regards to taxes.

Thanks!

Yeah, that sounds like Seattle. A cash out refi is essentially just getting a new mortgage on the house that pays off the old mortgage with extra money to spare (the "cash out"). Therefore the loan balance will be higher and the equity will be lower. Usually the term resets as well, but you could always get a shorter term loan like 15 years (in the US anyway...I'm assuming you can do the same thing in Canada). The only reason to do a cash out refi is if you have some need or use for the cash. I would start looking around ASAP before you get too far along in the refi process and make sure there is somewhere to invest the money and get a decent spread over the interest on the mortgage.

I have invested and plan to invest in Seattle suburbs. Prices are too high in Seattle and cash flow is too low. An added bonus is that the likely target of an attack would be the dense city center. Where I'm investing is far enough away that it wouldn't get damaged from the blast (although obviously the area's economy would be in bad shape). Anyway, I wouldn't let this prevent you from investing. As another poster said, if we get nuked we'll have much bigger problems than a damaged investment property (or quite possibly won't be around to have problems).

Rick Lewis does a lot of business just south of Seattle in Renton and other S King Co areas,m. I'm sure he'd be happy to work with you in South Seattle too if you prefer that. I know he's done a lot of flipping himself, and I think he's done sole buy and hold as well.

@Andy Whitcomb The business is called "A Stroke of Excellence", based out of Port Orchard.  Here's a link to their Yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/a-stroke-of-excellence-port-orchard

As I mentioned, I've only used him once so far (I plan to use him again in the future), so take that into account.  That said, the price was really excellent and the quality was good.  Steve was very responsive and easy to work with.

I was actually going to paint my unit myself as well, but after getting a price from Steve I couldn't justify taking my time to do it.

I know a good painter if you need one.  I've only used him once so far, but his price was outstanding and his quality was good (not quite great, but the value was great).

What do people think about a capital gains tax instead of a tax on income?  I'm not sure which would be better.