All Forum Posts by: Danae Meurer

@John Underwood

Can you tell me what information / documentation they requested from you for the loan increase?  Did you have to prove loss of income for this?  

Could someone chime in on the Net Operating Loss limitation of 80% of taxable income.  Because of depreciation we end up with a small business loss every year.  Will this loss now have to be carried forward?

We are finishing up a remodel in SE Denver and have been trying to find someone to refinish the hardwood floors.  We have had trouble finding someone for the job.  Most sub-contractors aren't even returning our calls.  The ones that do are either booked out until the end of July or are 2x as expensive as those guys.  I thought I would throw it out on here and see if anyone has a reputable sub we could contact for the job.  Timing wise we are looking for sometime before the end of May if possible.  I appreciate the help and am hoping to not have to start cold calling companies from the internet.  :-)

What I am seeing is a bunch of different systems that will probably work, I just never know whether or not to trust the reviews.  I know the nest system hasn't really lived up to expectations.  Go Parakeet seems interesting, but I can't find any reviews on that one.  Smarthome.com has a ton of items, but again was just hoping to find some personal experience from investors who have used these systems.

I have been looking around and am surprised that there is so little discussion regarding home automation.  We are purchasing our first vacation rental and I would like to get it set up to manage more from home.  It is about an hour away, and we would like to automate locks, garage door, thermostat, lights, etc... so we can make sure everything is shut down and locked up between renters.  I have done some research online, but would love some recommendations on systems that people have used themselves.  Thanks in advance for the help!

We have a rental house hitting the market next week in the University Neighborhood just south of DU at Vassar and S. Vine St. in Denver.  It is a 1500 ft2, 4 bed 2 bath with the 2 basement bedrooms non-conforming.It has an added sunroom and the garage has been converted into a heated artist’s studio with a ¾ bath.  In the last 3 years it has gotten new windows, a new roof, a new sewer line, insulation in the attic and updated electrical.  It will hit the market at $375,000, but I thought I would give you all a heads up in case anyone is interested.  If we don’t have to pay buyer’s commissions we would make a deal with you to lower the price.  For those who are interested, we have been renting this house for $2400 a month.  I am going to be over there working this weekend off and on, so if anyone wants to take a look let me know.  You can email me at [email protected].

Here is the info from most common code violations in Denver:

"Too many unrelated people
Any number of persons related by blood, marriage or adoption may live together in a single-family residence. In a single unit zone district, two unrelated persons per household are allowed, and with a home occupation permit, an additional unrelated person is allowed. In a multi-unit zone district, four unrelated persons per household are allowed, and with a home occupation permit, two additional unrelated persons are allowed." link below

https://www.denvergov.org/developmentservices/Deve...

As for enforcement, they usually only enforce if they become aware because of complaints from neighbors.  Then they will enforce it.  We have a single family with 4 bedrooms that we had rented to 4 students for quite a while.  Unfortunately, a woman moved into the neighborhood who has decided she doesn't like students and seems to be doing everything she can to get rid of the student rentals in the neighborhood.

We were informed that we were only allowed 2 unrelated until we filed for the home occupation permit to allow a 3rd.  The permit is automatically granted if filed.  Now we only have 3 students in there and are trying to figure out how to move forward.  They can't afford the house with only 3 of them.  Lease is up next month and we will probably try to find a family that can afford the space.  

Not sure if this helps, but we had never heard of the problem until it we had to deal with it ourselves.  Our property management company had told us it was not an issue and not to worry about it.  They were wrong.

We have panels from Real Goods Solar on our personal home and one of our rentals.  It has worked out well.  We like the company, and would not have been able to put them on if we had to pay for the whole system upfront.  As for billing the tenants, this is how we handle it.  Solar is a fixed amount all year long and then at the end of the year they do an audit and either charge us for the energy we created above what was estimated, or refund us the amount we paid for that wasn't created.  The second part of this is the Xcel energy bill.  Xcel keeps a running bank of what energy we create.  So if we use more than we make, it is charged to us that month, if we don't it remains in the bank to be used next month.  At the end of the year if we have energy in the bank we get a check for that amount.  On the tenant side, we include the monthly solar in the rent, and then send the electricity bill to them when it comes out.  They then send a check to cover that amount in the next week or so.  It is not a perfect system, but has worked well for us so far.  

One of the pieces we really like is that the lease is capped at 1% increase per year, Xcel has been averaging 7% increase per year lately. (I believe these %'s are right, but would have to look at our paperwork to make sure).  While we may be paying around the same cost now, we will be substantially under the rest of the public in the last half of the lease.  The one problem we have had is that the tenant took off with our monitoring equipment when he moved.  We had to pay $150 to get the new equipment put in, but we took it out of his security deposit.  If we had the choice we would put it on our other houses.  Unfortunately, those roofs don't face the right way and we have too many trees around the house.

Someday I want to hear the whole story!  Also, curious how many coats of paint it took to cover the black?  Very impressive and keep us posted on the sale.

I am finding conflicting answers on the web so I thought I would ask here.

We have an LLC setup that we have yet to use. It is a Multi-member LLC with zero expenses or income for the year.

Do we still need to file an information return for this LLC? Or not until we actually start using it?

Thanks!