All Forum Posts by: Blair F.

David S. find a CPA that works with lots of people with real estate. I am a CPA and work in accounting but I don't specialize in tax, I pay a knowledgeable CPA to do my house hack taxes to ensure I am getting the latest/all deductions and as another set of eyes for my books once a year. Your depreciation schedule will roll year to year as it is added to, you want it to be correct.

David S. I would second the thought that you probably shouldn't do this in turbo tax. Get a tax Cpa. It will be worth the cost in the extra savings they will find you and the headache when you realize you did your first few years of returns wrong in turbo tax

Kayla Grau hi Kayla. I am currently house hacking so I can tell you that it has been a great decision. I can also tell you that there have been unexpected costly repairs, remodels, tenant vacancy etc that have come up, I have been able to manage them because I been in good financial position. You will not like my opinion. I think if you are on income based repayment with your student loans that would mean that you didn't think you could handle the regular monthly payment. And if that is the case I think need to wait to buy a house. Work your butt off, live for as cheap as possible and pay off that debt. I speak from experience that you will be and feel free when you are done with it. Then think about house hacking. Good luck :)

Joseph Cornwell I use Cozy as well. I have tenant fill out Cozy application and also require they submit PDF copy of photo ID and last two pay-stubs. I call the prior landlord, confirm employment, etc and have Cozy do background check. Also since tenant has to create Cozy account to apply, once they are accepted I set up lease length in Cozy and tenant just has to set up/confirm online payment through them. Has worked great, all online.

Tom Cramblit it depends on how much you have improved the property and how much your local market has increased in value. I was able to refi out of my FHA a year and a half after purchase with no extra money, but the market has been hot in my area and I made some key improvements so the house appraised high enough. Good luck!

Cathy Gribble if I were an out of state investor, I would not choose NOLA for my buy and hold rentals. Is there not another mid-size city with less natural disaster risk and better cash flow you would like visiting? Do you have family/attachment here? I own here bc I live here, and love it. But Nola requires flood & wind/hail insurance not required in other regions, very old housing stock that requires additional maintenance, and solid understanding of the city as it can vary widely block to block. Additionally the market has been very hot the last few years.

Micah Perzichilli House Hacking a Duplex - Organizing Receipts for Tax Time on the BiggerPockets forums http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/311/topics/357161-house-hacking-a-duplex---organizing-receipts-for-tax-time https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/02/21/tax-implications-house-hacking/ https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/01/07/investors-maximize-deductions-avoid-overstating-income/ Hope these help!

Linda Weygant https://help.quickbooks.intuit.com/en_US/community/class-tracking-with-online-quickbooks/923700 The website says that quickbooks online has the "class" feature in the Plus edition (which is more expensive) see link

Dustin DeBoer I am working on this currently. Bought duplex FHA that had room for improvement. Made upgrades and with raising market in my area was able to refinance to conventional in 1.5 years, didn't need to bring any additional money to table. Thing to consider, in order to qualify for second mortgage, mostly likely will need the rental income from first property to be counted by the lender so that debt to income ratio isn't too high. Many lenders don't count the rental income until you have two years of rental income on your tax returns. I'm working on my two year rental history and saving for next down payment. It's not as fast as you mentioned, but think it can we done within 2-3 yrs of first purchase. Good luck!

Art Maydan congrats on your duplex and setting up systems. I also owner occupy a duplex. My suggestion would be to remember adopt the mindset of a small business owner. Think about your rental as business. Good business owners shouldn't co-mingle personal income or expenses won business items. I have a separate checking account for the rental that collects all the income. For expenses if I go to Home Depot for rental and personal items I do separate orders. I take a picture of receipt as I walk out and put it into quickbooks app from my phone. It will also be helpful for your accountant to keep track of what is a repair/maintenance/supplies and what is an improvement to the unit. It seems like extra work as you do it but you and your accountant will be happy you did at tax time