All Forum Posts by: Chris Welch

@Mike Smith

Where I invest in STR you can call the electic company and get the average energy bill for the home. If it was being run as STR than it shoud be close and the seller will usually shares the electic bill. If it has not been run as STR then add $200 or $300 to bill. In the winter the pool heaters (electric) run all the time and in summer the a/c is cranked down to 70 and I bet the back doors are left open. I am joking somewhat but understand to get the higher returns the cost of running the home is higher.

Also, hire the a/c company to do a 6 month check to save you $$$ in long run.

Thanks Luke.

Your right I need to ask til I hear the right answer. 

Thanks,

@John Underwood

Thanks for the name, will give them a call. 

Chris 

I have two vacation rentals in Crystal River, Florida and was just beat out to add a third to the mix. I happened to listen to Tony J Robinson's podcast out a few days ago where he discussed STR's and gave lots of great advice. He mentioned he has been getting second home or vacation rental mortgages with 10% down and very low interest close to 3%. I have done mine through the local small bank/credit union but they are still wanting 25% and the rate is in the low 4's.

Thanks for any help,

Chris Welch 

Also if you buy and sell within 1st year holding paper the tax man can treat it as profit that first year....i bought a mobile with land ($30k) and sold ($60k with $15k down) and accountant wanted me to take whole profit that year.....on larger scale could get costly on money slowly (3,5 10yr note) rolling in .....

@Damaso Bautista

True.....I have invested locally and most houses in the same town.....but if you have the desire to live in different places it could be done if planned out correctly.....

@Dave Foster, Thanks for the information! 

I won't have to convince my wife as we already as we have a nice vacation rental on the water which will someday be a primary when the time is right. In fact, every time we visit I have to pry her out to go home. 

BTW, what an adventure.....10 years on a sailboat. I love boats but more of a motor guy......lol

@Dave Foster

Hello all,

I am currently 49 years old and have accumulated more than a dozen single family homes along with some other real estate and investments. I love real estate and it has really helped increase my net worth. I house hacked a few, meaning bought a house and lived in it, then turned it into rental when I/we purchased another home. As I often ponder the idea of retirement I was wondering if anyone has reverse house hacked a few houses to get the primary residence exemption on capital gains. Meaning, every two or more years strategically move into a home you have owned for some time which has a large amount of equity and maybe not been a great rental performer with the sole purpose of selling and protecting the capital gains from taxes. Obviously, this would take some time as each would have to be your primary for two years but seems like it could be a great way to feather your retirement nest or reinvest that money into a better performing asset tax free. Also, while in the house for the two years you could make improvements to maximize the sale price and return on investment.  Once you go to put that house on the market after your two years, move into and establish a "new" primary you have owned for years and start the two year process over again. 

Depending on the size and location of your sfh rentals, I understand this may not work if you have the need for a big house because of many kids or your rentals are in war zones. 

Also, I know you can 1031 and trade up to increase income and for other purposes. But I was specifically wondering if anyone has done this technique with sfh's they have owned for some time specifically for the tax exempt capital gains. Would love to hear how it went and any downsides which I am not seeing.    

On water in big bend area of Florida saw a loss of bookings in late March, April and May bc of travel restrictions....but had fill ins as people decided to social distance in a new local.....FL easing restrictions in area where house is located.....

I had a similar experience with cozy. Had a tenant I was asking to leave...was behind a month and half by the time he finally left. Once out the door he reported his last two rent payments (many months ago) as fraudulent and cozy refunded him the money. I contacted cozy livid about this and the response was he paid with a credit card payment through cozy and he had reported to the credit card it was fraud. Dont know if he knew of this loophole or was trying to be a jerk but worked in his favor. Did peruse a judgment so I have a piece of paper showing he owes me a few thousand dollars.

It is a problem as cozy never contacted me....just dug the $$ out of my account. Also, the payment is all set up by the tenant with cozy for either auto pay on a certain date or they go in and manually pay.....how was he defrauded.......cozy still didnt have an answer.