All Forum Posts by: Carolyn McBride

Wow, thank you all for the great advice and feedback. There is so much nuance to these strategies.

Another question popped up since my closing date is looking like it might get pushed back... what happens if the investor is not able to meet the material participation requirement by the end of the year? 

Will they lose their ability to deduct bonus depreciation against their regular 9-5 income for all future years? Is there a way to retroactively deduct bonus depreciation against their later income? If so, would they be capped at the 60% bonus depreciation limit of the purchase year or <40% limit depending on the year they met their material participation limit?

I have a property that went under contract in Whittier, North Carolina right before Helene hit. The area wasn’t heavily affected... but a tree on the property was uprooted and unfortunately knocked down part of the home (roof and foundation were affected). 

I am under a time crunch and would like to purchase the property asap (due to tax reasons). But now that the sellers want to file an insurance claim, I’m assuming the claim will take a good amount of time to be processed. What are my options for completing the purchase sooner rather than later?

Should and can I continue to purchase the home while the seller has an open claim submitted? Should I write up an ammendment to the contract stating in the case the insurance claim isn’t approved and carried out, that I can get X amount in seller credits? Would I be able to collect those seller credits, even after the purchase has been completed?

I'm about to go into contract on a property I want to use as an STR. I'll likely close on the property around early November and it will need small cosmetic updates, maybe a new deck, and of course new furniture set up.

Since it's so close to the end of the year, I'm wondering if anyone else has had success with the STR loophole requirements and material participation when acquiring a property with only two months left in the year? I'm planning on trying to complete 100 hours of material participation...

Did the IRS have issues with the 100 hours of material participation for only two months out of the year? What types of work were you able to capture as "material participation"? And what are the requirements for how many days the Airbnb needed to have been rented in that year?

I'm wondering if I can qualify by using just 1 or 2 bookings (under 7 days of course) for the year.

Thanks @J. Martin. I've been to Tyler's meetups already and will tap in for yours as well in the future!

I also recently found out about Latte and Lease's Out of State Investor Academy's "Cash Flow Coffee" meetup, which I believe can be accessed via her email list or her website: 

https://www.lattesandleases.com/shop/p/bay-area-meet-up-g9ny...

Hi all,

I know this thread is a few years old and a lot has changed in the Bay Area.

Can anyone point me to any good, current meetups going on in the Bay Area (especially East Bay)?

@Johnson H.  @J. Martin @Diana Smith @Leigha Chew @Royce Anies  @Andrew Strauss

Hi BP Community! I'm looking to deduct HELOC interest for costs related to making improvements on a primary home that is also used as a rental. Does anyone know what type of documentation is needed to prove the HELOC funds are used for improvements to the property?

My HELOC lender does not allow electronic payments just checks, but because my contractors generally want straight cash or else electronic payment, I usually cash the checks myself and then send the payments electronically (which is not great from the perspective of my HELOC transaction history, since it looks like I was sending the money to myself only).

Please help! Anyone with experience around HELOC or home equity interest deductions, do let me know your experiences.

Thank you. Yes, I want to confirm the property mentioned is located in Oakland, CA and I'd love any perspective on any foundation issues experienced in the area.

Hi BP Community,

I'm new to real estate and home construction, and I recently bought a house (has a crawl space on flat land) which has about 4 inches of settlement on one corner of the house. The house is liveable and the settlement is more of a cosmetic issue rather than a safety one (for now at least). Windows, doors, etc are all working fine but there is one long crack one the floor and a parallel smaller crack on the ceiling... The humidity in the crawl space is not too bad, readings have been average to a little above average in the wood and air.

I want to replace the flooring to LVP or LVT but need to have level floors in order to do this. I've had a few contractors offer quotes for installing push piers and lifting the house... all for over $40k, which to me seems like a huge cost for leveling, which won't really even be noticeable (although I understand it will mitigate any future settlement and further damage). I'm also aware of self-leveling compound, but I believe that may be just a bandaid solution to the cosmetic issue but will not address the risk of future settlement.

I wanted to reach out to this community to see if anyone has any thoughts about whether push piers and house lifting would be a worthy investment or if it's just a total scam/rip off? For the more experienced rehabbers that have dealth with settlement, what are your thoughts on this and do you know of any alternatives?

Hi BP,

I've applied for the new 5% down multifamily primary residence loan option for a 3-unit property, but keep getting denied at the Automated Underwriting System (AUS) stage. 

I have good credit (690), 24 months of reserves, and something like 40% DTI... and the lenders I am working with are not sure why the AUS is denying my application with these specs.

I've heard 3-4 unit conventional/primary residence loans are more difficult to achieve with the new low 5% down payment option... I'm wondering if anyone has been successful at closing with this type of loan product and if so, what factors (credit/DTI/reserves, etc) were required for you to be approved? I'd like to understand which factors are weighed most heavily in the underwriting stage so I can try to get approved.

Hi there. I am a first-time investor interested in a small multifamily property in Cincinnati, Ohio. I'm aiming for a $100k-$200k price point, and can see these properties are available, but am not so sure about the neighborhoods or expected renter class associated with these lower-priced properties. I am open to doing light rehab but not complete renovations or large repairs. My husband is originally from Cincinnati, but has not been there in ten years and considers most neighborhoods "the hood". 

For those that are more experienced with the Cincinnati market, what are the up and coming (B/C graded) neighborhoods that have small multifamilies, a strong renter demand, and are likely to see appreciating rents? And I'm also curious are there any neighborhoods that could be especially popular with short-term rentals in the city?

Some neighborhoods with duplexes that seem particularly affordable are below. Are there any neighborhood-specific economic trends I should know about? 

- Price HIll

- Walnut Hills

- Avondale

- St. Bernard

- Norwood

- College Hill