All Forum Posts by: Billy Borus

Hi Andrew, how much are you selling it for?

@Drew Sygit also, 100% agree with not going for lowest price. I'd rather pay more for a PM I can trust to place good tenants, take care of the day to day operations, and keep me abreast of everything pertaining to the property. They'll save money in the long run anyways.

@Nathan G. Wow, thank you so much Nathan! These are all great points, and I appreciate you taking the time to outline them. I see you on the forums a lot, so I feel like a BP celebrity responded to me haha

Agreed on doing my homework. I plan to evaluate and interview many in the area, as I know having a bad PM can be just as bad as a bad tenant.

I will absolutely reach out if I have questions, thank you for offering!

@Drew Sygit thanks, Drew! I'll check that out for sure. I'm originally from Michigan, and plan on investing up there in the future. I will definitely keep you guys in mind when I do so.

Hello fellow Atlanta-area investors.  I will be moving out of my current house hack in a few months, and will be renting my house out fully.  I originally wanted to self-manage (at least to start), but there are a lot of changes going on in my and my fiance's life, and I would rather hire a property management company now.  It logistically makes the most sense with where we're at, and I factored in standard PM costs when I analyzed this deal. 

Anyone who has experience with Atlanta PMCs, could you please give me any feedback you might have?  What you do and don't like with the current company you're using, as well as any previous companies you might have used.  I'm also willing to buy lunch or dinner if you would rather talk about it over food :)

Thanks!

Hi Abigail, first off - great job on graduating debt-free!  I was fortunate enough to be able to do that as well.  My mom was amazing and let me stay rent-free, as long as I was going to school.  

I think it is totally up to you whether you house hack or not, but you should at least buy a rental in some capacity.  If your parents will still let you stay with them rent-free, and you guys have a great relationship, then by all means, stay with them rent-free!  This will likely be the last time you live with them, so enjoy every second you can with them, if you don't have to move out earlier.  If your rental is cash-flowing, maybe throw some of it their way as a thank you for them helping you start off in a great place, financially :)

That is great that you work for a company that offers you promotion and relocation opportunities, but just like guessing what the market will be in 6-12 months, it's all just speculation until it happens.  Buy a property now, and get it rented out, either fully, or as a house hack.  Continue saving as much money as possible, and be ready to buy again for if/when you get relocated.  My guess is your company will give you a relocation stipend, but even if they don't, it seems like you're very responsible, and will be in a good place to buy wherever you move.  You can then house hack there!  Use this as an opportunity to potentially get 2 rental properties in your first year investing.  At the end of the day though, it is your decision, and I trust you will make a prudent one.

I just bought my first property last year, and am currently house hacking it.  If you have any questions or want to chat, feel free to reach out!

@George Skidis you have given me a lot of valuable insight, and I am absolutely going to look at doing that.

I'd love to chat. I'll PM you to set up a time.

Thanks, George!

@George Skidis I'll check into the DBA today, thanks for that! Would I then put the house under the LLC? I've heard and read of the potential for a bank to call the loan due if you do this, but in your experience, is this something that even happens?

Absolutely - I'm opening up a separate bank account to put the rent I receive into it.  I plan to keep my rent income separate from my personal bank account.  Got it, only his unit can be deducted, that makes sense.  

Thank you so much for your input, and I hope the moratorium up there isn't hurting you too badly!

@Basit Siddiqi thank you for the response, Basit!  You're saying the rent payment falls into one of those 3 buckets, or expenses that I pay do?

I've never heard of a Section 121 exclusion, so I'll have to check into that as well!

Hi everyone, new investor here, with my first property (house hack). I admit I have not studied as much about taxes as I studied other aspects of REI, so I'm trying to learn as much as I can, before tax season.

I bought a SFH September of last year, with the intention of house hacking, and eventually moving out, while having the upstairs and downstairs as 2 separate, rentable units. My girlfriend moved in with me, and her dad just sold his house and moved into the basement. We have a great relationship (otherwise I would not have offered it up to him), and it has already been a huge help with him being here for a week. He has the tools, plenty of experience with being handy, and has been great to bounce ideas off of, to get the basement fully rentable as a separate unit from the top, where we live. He is close to retiring, and is trying to decide whether he wants to retire up to Illinois, where all of his family is (including his son and granddaughters), or stay down here, where his daughter is. I say all this, to give a brief background into this house hack.

My question is, from a tax standpoint, does it make more sense to accept checks or cash from him, for rent? I want to be able to write-off as much of the expenses I've incurred fixing up the house, as I legally am allowed. I know it's easier, from a paper trail standpoint, to accept checks. Is claiming the income with checks the only way I can write-off some expenses related to the property, or can I do it with either method, and a paper trail?

Thanks!