All Forum Posts by: David Mazza

Hey all, I have a very high level tax strategy question / hypothetical as a sole proprietor LLC. Let’s say I own a place worth $100k. After expenses, I net $15k in cash flow at the end of the year. I then take that $15k and buy another property, netting me back at $0 profit for the portfolio. Do I have to pay taxes on the $15k, or does it wash out due to the reinvestment back into another property? What if I earned the $15k through an investment in a syndication vs self managed property? Would that change anything? Thanks for the thought!

I’m currently a couple weeks away from selling an investment property in San Francisco. It’s in contract with a solid offer. I’m looking to 1031 the property but would like tax and legal guidance through the process. I’m moving my earnings into a TIC deal, and want to make sure everything in the contract smells right. Any recommendations for folks in San Francisco that are excellent at their jobs?

Bjorn Ahlblad I wonder if I bought your house in San Mateo! Did you do another deal or did you make your killing and run?

Hey all! I’ve spent the last half a year reading the books, scanning through all of your posts and thoughtful responses, and listening to way too many podcasts. I have a small condo in San Francisco and I have officially given notice to my tenant to move out so I can sell, officially starting the clock on my 1031 Exchange. Given they need to move out and I need to sell, I have some extra time. I have really appreciated reading about multi family and have put most my energy into learning in this space. My question for you all...how’d you find your first deal? How’d you do? If you could go back in time, would you do it again?! Appreciate any and every response :)

I still have my condo in San Francisco that allowed me to finally move out of my parents home ten years ago! It has been rented the last 6 or so years. It’s appreciated to the point where it’s probably better to sell and redistribute the equity, but every time I walk in I definitely get flashbacks to when I lived there.

@Jeshua Patrick ... thanks for the note! I don't think I'm quite going to convince my significant other to live in a multifamily, though that is where I'd like to start my investing in general :) I think I'm willing to play the game with the cards I have available and recognize that I still want to maintain the SFR living lifestyle. My goal would be to rehab something then move in to keep the taxes down quite a bit since they're a little ridiculous where we'd like to end up.

As for the 1031, I have been researching that quite a bit as well. It'll for sure save me a few bucks, but it also means I'll have to be ready to put those dollars to work, which I'm not at the moment. 

Did you end up investing in the market you live in or going out of state?

@Rob Hakes Thanks for sharing your journey there! I took a little bit of cash out of my primary but put it back into the property. I bought the house for it's bones over beauty, and it was in pretty original condition from the 50's. Given pricing of the bay area market, I'm running into DTI issues that also make holding this particular property a little bit more difficult while trying to extend myself to other deals. Once again, selling the condo should help with some of that and kick start the process, but by goal is to try to figure out a method of deploying more capital at a faster rate!

@Jo-Ann Lapin thanks for the note! I definitely agree that I need to get my cards out on the table to see what's actually in front of me. I've run some proxy scenarios based on what I've been able to self educate on, but I'm very aware that "I don't know what I don't know". That's why every bit of help is appreciated!

@Cody Evans @Ana Garrido- My dad always taught me that "the lazy man works twice as hard."...that said, fully agree on needing the plan. I'm exploring options at the moment, so plans are still baking. My thought is that the more liquidity I can get my hands on, the better positioned I'll be to move when opportunities strike and leverage deals. My high level thought right now is to buy in cash, but with economics that would work had I taken out a mortgage. I want my cash flow to all go to new home purchases, until I'm out of money, then take the equity out of homes and start again. Location, property type, etc still has some factors that I'm exploring to see more of "when" I'd need to sell my primary. I can always dump my condo and get moving on some deals before then. As far as market pricing goes, I'm of the stance that I'd be selling at a bit of a premium right now, but who knows where the market will head. I have continuously been shocked by it, thought my primary should get hit pretty hard by the new tax bill for the next buyer.

@Raul R. - I'm from the Bay Area, she's from NYC. Part of this equation might mean moving to the East Coast, which might give me some negotiating power with her! So we'd technically be liquidating the house anyways. It'd be more about NOT buying a new house right out the gate while we figure out areas, rather than moving straight toward a rental in the same town. Outside of that, I convinced her it's taking a gamble on me overall, but that my track record professionally and personally justifies it. I have a family and I never would put them in jeopardy, and I have a career I wouldn't plan on altering unless something drastic changed. If we don't take a swing in the next year or two, I think the rest of our lives will be fairly predictable, and rolling the dice in an intelligent fashion to put a new trajectory on things sounds attractive to each of us.

First post, need advice! I’ve been in CA all my life and “lucked” my way through real estate by living in my flips and moving up the property ladder. I’m at a point now where I have a condo in SF (bad economics on a rental basis but solid appreciation by accident) and a primary residence on the Peninsula that has cash tied up. I’m thinking of selling it all to get started on more strategic investing to get towards this mythical path of financial freedom, but that may involve moving the family into a rental for a bit. Has anybody journeyed down this path before? Any advice? How afraid of losing the tax write off of a primary should I be? I’m new and appreciate any and every response!