All Forum Posts by: Christina B.

@Jules Aton Costco is still a solid option and I just bought some replacement stock a few weeks ago. I also use their Egyptian cotton & Pima cotton linens.

I puzzled over this when we first started and decided to offer Disney+/Hulu on top of our fiber Wifi (very fast). Given the feedback we've received, I'm removing Disney+/Hulu access once ski season is over and have already moved to Roku/Guest Mode. Our practical experience is that most guests prefer to login to their own accounts (has their watchlists, etc.). Honestly, while we know guests use it, most never describe the tv (or cable services, etc.) as an important amenity. We already buck the trend of having a tv in every room (but we're also more targeted toward families). If individuals want to hang out in their rooms vs. common spaces, it's just as easy for them to use their devices. I can say I'm prepared for the rare guest (haven't had them yet) for whom this is an issue. In those cases, I'm guessing it'll be a singular issue- e.g. football. Happy to spring for it at the time and put it down as a one-off expense vs. regular monthly fee if I need to. (And can report back here next year if I needed to bring it back.)

@Tom Dieringer These are such great questions, thank you. Like @Carolyn Fuller, in a pinch, my husband can step in as co-host as he knows the place as well (working on it regularly) and hears the stories about guests and the process. Might take a little bit of time for him to come up to speed on the workflow but all do-able because mostly all online and clean/straight-forward. Alternatively, one of my alternate Executors could equally step in as she's very competent (although her real estate portfolio is primarily LTR).

However, I haven't made those updates yet legally and probably should. (It's more of a doozy if something happens to both my husband and myself as while our kids could step in, they have other paths currently and most likely would move it to a property management company.)

I love your annual remote commitment. It's been a few years since we've been truly off-grid (although our son is pressing for a return trip to the Boundary Waters) and I think he said he had spotty cell reception even there. If it's truly that short, blocking off the calendar might be the easiest. I'm still amazed (to my family's chagrin) at how we can still manage properties from afar (whether that's on a flight, or well outside the US). I'm still working on letting the work go more, lol. Work in progress.

Thanks, @Michael Baum! FWIW, I thought that originally as well. I've worked with several CPAs (and have a few in the family) and I'm not sure why this is but in terms of actual and practical experience, only the first (and not the company I worked with mentioned in my nightmare) actually dispensed solid, actionable advice and recommendations. More recently, in the last several years, we've received no advice or recommendations (despite the greater knowledge). Instead, we (the clients) found mistakes over issues like calculating cost-basis, which we've had to point out (which we got charged for since they charged on a lawyer by the hour basis instead of a flat fee and it didn't matter that it was their mistake). I'm still upset with myself for missing that depreciation didn't carry over correctly (good news is if we can get those returns amended and filed, we're due refunds).

Just because they're a CPA doesn't automatically translate that their greater knowledge will be passed on to you or benefit you. Instead, I've either had to teach myself or ask the right questions in order to be aware of the impact of our choices. Does that make sense? Possibly the really good CPAs will check in or ask their clients the questions that will lead to smarter decisions or knowledge. However, that hasn't been the case for us in many years. They'd just have us fill out their questionnaire/workbooks on a yearly basis. Then have us review the returns before filing. Nothing more and at too high of a cost for returns with errors I'd never have realized had we not been prompted to find a new accountant.

Nightmare! Sounds like Seller's remorse but multiple levels of unprofessionalism. It also reminds me that for many of us, the real estate agents represent the deal (and not necessarily your interests). They will do what they can to keep the deal alive although in this case, it sounds like the seller was pressuring you to exit the deal but you didn't (which hopefully means it's an excellent investment).

Hi @Dina Schmid. Truly sorry it has become a negative experience for you. Before your most recent post, I was surprised the seller didn't prep future guests for the management change even if your PM can take care of the possible upcoming headaches. I do want to encourage you to listen to what makes the best sense for you and your family. Yes, it's an investment property but not everything comes down to dollars and profits.

I do think you and PM should reconsider the rates and what your sweet spot is. The high occupancy indicates you could go a little higher and find the balance of personal usage with guest usage. I also think you should consider making it no pets. I'm saying that as a lover of dogs and cats, and with a property that is dog-friendly. Yes, people may violate your policy (exterior cams might help with that) but then fine them on the large side. It'll still be helpful to your allergies. And honestly, there are many families with allergies and sensitivities who prefer a property that recognizes that and caters to that.

Having said that, the above advice seems sound and makes sense. I might just be a tiny bit contrarian because closings can be very stressful and I hope you can get a small vacation (just not at your new home right now). And in a few years (perhaps months), I hope you can feel good about this choice, even if the initial beginning didn't go as wished. Good luck! (FWIW, I prefer lower occupancy, higher rates as it works better for our situation and even with that, we did more than break-even in our first year.)

I thought about posting this under the Financial groups (where I also searched and did my research), but this is the community that has helped me grow so much, that I hope it will be useful to others here, if not now, to some future searcher. Here's what I did but there are many just as good but different paths:

1. I reached out to my network of trusted friends and business associates, asking if they had a CPA they loved and trusted.

2. I searched local directories, facebook groups, BP groups (especially Finance), and then reached out personally to a group of "old-timers" here that I respect and asked for leads.

3. I came up with several (under 10) very solid leads that I then researched further. I did not limit by location as while local can be preferred, I trust my discernment in general if there's at least a phone call, video call, etc.

What I found is that surprisingly, a large chunk of my network did not love their CPA and were open to switching if I found someone better. Unsurprisingly, some of those leads were no longer taking new clients. My best lead surprised me (and it came from the 1031 group I worked with previously as a client). She is an EA (which I hadn't heard of until I met her) but from our talks, seems exceedingly competent and knowledgeable. She was not accepting new clients (although her partner was). She's old-school in some aspects (actually answers their phones during tax season and was willing to hear out our situation). I quickly realized I would work with her for simply even consultation.

I had to research EAs and think about my needs and whether a CPA was a must-have. I was surprised to realize in my specific case, it's not. (I already have a solid team for estate planning, wealth management, etc.) What I really wanted- was a tax professional who would take care of our taxes, answer my questions without nickel and diming me, be transparent and competent. Kindness and a sense of humor are all bonuses. She's flat rate as well. (It took me a little bit of discussion to convince her to add us on as a client and given the experiences I've had with the transfer, I'm even more grateful for her professional advice and zero bs.)

TLDR: in your search for a solid tax professional, reach out to those you respect (to find those they respect, lol). Reconsider your assumptions for what you need and what is important to you. We have just the one STR. We really don't need the full-service (or large firm) services of a CPA. Flat rate, willingness to explain, teach, and answer questions, transparency, competency- are all important to me.

The reason I haven't been on this group as much in the last few months are due to both High Season (for me, as it's Ski Season) and this:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/519/topics/1235784-fili...

But I'm reminded that most times I've come across a challenge, it's also led genuinely to valuable lessons learned and while there can be pain, I wouldn't take back any of it because I don't want to be in that position again (or ignorant of something I need to know or learn). Continued appreciation for you all, especially the old-timers, lol!

We have been with one CPA (CPA/lawyers firm) for the last 7 years (they filed our 2017 taxes and every year since then). At the end of Nov. 2023, they informed us they were no longer going to file taxes and were moving solely to litigation. They amicably moved us to another company which was bought and moved to new ownership January 2024. Although I submitted all paperwork, etc. on time (in Feb. 2024), after repeated emails back and forth requesting status, the new firm filed for an extension at the start of April. (In our entire lives, we have never filed for an extension and never had to.) The firm insisted they needed more time to complete the work as in 2023, we had a 1031 exchange. They did not provide us with any figures regarding possible taxes owed or quarterlies so I had to estimate those myself and pay them on time. After repeated emails in May asking about the status and hearing vague "we're working on it", I lost patience in mid-June (as again, there was no work for me to review) and I asked the previous firm if they would take us back. Without the 1031, the filing is fairly straightforward. The original firm agreed to and it seemed all was good.

Previously, we paid around $750 to file federal, and 2 state returns. I started becoming concerned when our bills hit the $2500 mark and asked if it would reach much higher. They said not more than a few hundred. However, I had questions and concerns over how they calculated cost-basis, so several emails later, after agreeing they had to recalculate, we were ready to file. Although the bills at this point reached over $4K, I was inclined to let it go because I was grateful it was done. Then we got a written letter from the IRS saying the signature page was not acceptable and had to be re-filed. A month later, another letter from one of the states saying the same. This particularly irked me because I had brought over the physically signed pages to their office. I then received further bills which brought our total to just under $5K as they needed a temporary POA to rectify things.

When I received a bill in January 2025 for a technology fee, I questioned why it hadn't been applied to our bill in the previous months. I paid it but then received notice they would not be filing our taxes for 2024. At that point, through searching on this group as well as reaching out to my network for leads, I found a great EA who has a robust practice and came highly recommended. She took us on and her only request was for the original firm to provide the depreciation detail listing for 2023. That's when things slowly started to unravel.

To this day, despite repeated requests, the original firm has never provided that listing. They did provide an alternate 2023 tax return that they said was not filed which led to confusion. We had to look over returns back to 2020 to discover that depreciation was not captured correctly on the 2021, 2022, and 2023 returns. The EA thinks it might have been a software issue since she said those should carry over each year. When I went back to the original firm requesting a refund, they insisted on correcting those returns with zero refund (although at this point, the EA didn't trust them to do 2023 correctly especially with the 1031, which is one of her specialties). They also insisted on filing those from their office (when the EA wanted me to follow her specific protocol for snail mailing them).

Fast forward: I received the amended federal returns still with no depreciation detail listing and a fairly hostile email that said they would not file the returns. I emailed for clarification as the owner of the firm via email had already written he wanted to file the returns, pending our approval. The EA also found some minor mistakes along with a slightly larger one (they hadn't depreciated the hot tub at our STR and chosen instead to expense it although it was almost $15K). More significantly, they hadn't provided the amended state returns for those years. That was back on March 7 and I've heard nothing since despite another email and vmail on my part.

I realize it's Tax Season, that there are 2 sides to every story, and that end of day, even if I have to pay the EA to amend all the returns for 2021, 2022, and 2023 along with her doing our 2024 returns, that's what I need to do to get this cleaned up. As they're lawyers, I'm reluctant to press this further and our lawyer (separate entity) initially recommended reaching out via email to request the refund and work with them (which we tried). But I have learned a lot (about taxes, selecting a tax professional, etc.) and with appreciation to this group for the advice you've dispensed through the years, my question is: what realistic recourse do I have and would you advise just letting this go and moving on? (It's been very stressful and while I do want to detach emotions from this, we trusted this firm and worked well with them for years, paid all their bills, and this is how it ends?)

Colorado. But I'm genuinely curious. STRs in other states might actually pay tax on the OTA platform fee/guest fee? That seems wrong.

For clarification and thank you @Michael Baum, @John Underwood, and @Patricia Andriolo-Bull for your replies, this only regards 2025 bookings. (Side note: the original 1099 VRBO sent me for the 2024 tax year was incorrect and missing some December bookings but they sent me an amended 1099 which is correct.)

This is why it's puzzling to me that their system was calculating and remitting the taxes in 2024 correctly but in 2025 is clearly adding in the guest service fee (platform fee) as part of the total which is taxed. I realize in other countries, VAT may apply to that platform fee. But it hasn't so far in the US, to my knowledge. Taxes should just be on nightly rate total + host fees (cleaning, etc.). Does anyone in any state in the US pay taxes on the platform fee?