All Forum Posts by: Bobert M.

I'm looking for a CPA in the southeastern Wisconsin area  who actually claims to specialize in real estate.  It's a daunting task to try and find a CPA who actually claims and actually does specialize in real estate and knows  more than the average person. No matter who you call, they will always tell you they know how to handle real estate because no good business person is going to turn down a customer, but that's where it becomes frustrating.  If anyone who deals with rental properties can recommend a CPA in the southeastern Wisconsin area, preferably one who has saved you money in taxes or constantly gives you tips on how to save money or make more/better deductions, I would greatly appreciate it.

@Paul Caputo Yes this helps.  I am working with a new CPA this year who says he knows real estate, but before going with him, I talked to 2 other CPA's who said they knew real estate and then was warned against them by other real estate professionals because it appeared they did NOT know real estate.  Its hard to find someone who knows all the ins and outs and that why I'm relying on biggerpockets for this year and years to come, for the times when my CPA tells me one thing, but I read something drastically different online.  But again, yes, your answer helps greatly.  Thank you!

Let me try to word it this way: when determining the price of the capital expenditure that you will be breaking down over the next however many years, are you using the amount that you paid, or the amount that it would most likely cost to have it repaired again? Meaning, my brother and I installed Windows and it cost us $2,000 in Windows with no labor costs, however if somebody else was going to do the job it would easily cost $5,000. That being said, can we use the $5,000 number and say the extra $3,000 would be for reasonable compensation for the work that was done, since the IRS uses the term reasonable compensation in other business matters, or are we stuck with the $2,000 material cost?

Does no one do capital expediture depreciation on their taxes?  If you put new windows in for $10,000, you probably claim a certain dollar amount for a certain number of years, right?  Like 500 a year loss (depreciation) for 20 years?   

I understand that major improvements or betterments to the property are depreciated and repairs are deductible. I just mean the yearly tax deductions for certain things, like redoing the plumbing in a house. You can't claim that as a deduction however you can depreciate it a little bit each year for a certain amount of years. I'm just trying to learn who judges how long something is good for, to know how many years to depreciate it over. A property (building only, not land) is depreciated over 27.5 yrs as a whole a half years, but individually, how many years can you depreciate a replacement roof versus Plumbing versus replacement flooring. and what figure do I use, do I use the actual cost that it cost me or the average cost to have the service done as if you're paying somebody else.

@Ashish Acharya

I'm brand new at this, so right now its for taxes (although 2017 there was no income so even though its all a loss, there is no real estate income to put it against) so I'm guessing it won't actually help until next years taxes (for 2018 year).

But i'd also like to know just to know, because it may be worth while to spend a little extra on some things if it will be worth more over the long run in terms of the yearly write off.  (I assume thats what you mean by deal analysis?)

Rental properties:

First, when figuring the Capital Expenditures for improvements, and their ages, is there a standard age range for certain things, such as 10 years for flooring, 20 years for windows, etc... or are you expected to be reasonable in your estimate of how long something lasts?

Second, are you giving the items an actual cost value, or a replacement value? Example: I installed all new windows in a house for $1200. My labor, my material, etc..., am I limited at putting the CAPEX cost on windows at $1200, or can I put $4,000, because if I was to hire someone to do it, that's what it would cost?

@Peter K. PM sent. Thanks everyone.

a cash out to an LLC owned home, isn't that 3 or 5 or 7 year terms? I can't make that work in any scenario

So, as I embark in my real estate investing dream, I'm starting to analyze every where I spend money. I just read a post about how it was hard for some people to even come up with $400 in case of an emergency. Throughout that post there were several comments about how people were spending their money, and in that they were saying that $200 a month was what they were spending on groceries. Those may only be people who are single, or hsve other circumstances, but it still intrigues my curiosity. So here I am, a husband with a wife and a toddler and we spend about $180 per week between Walmart and Aldis. Now, I know we're not getting only the bare essentials but I don't feel like we're going crazy either. I'm just writing this to see if other families of 3 or 4 can comment on what their normal spending habits are for groceries per week or per month, and maybe I can realize if we're doing something really wrong, or if we're doing okay. I have tried the big box discount Club stores, but the hour drive doesn't seem to offset the two or three dollars I'll save on a 600 pack of paper towel rolls