All Forum Posts by: Eric Lee

Thanks everyone for the feedback.  I ended up finding a company called Precision Concrete Cutting that was able to do the job.  As others noted, it's not usually worth it for a company to come out with all their equipment to do a small job like this, but they worked with me on that.  I just had to wait a few weeks until they happened to be in the area for other jobs, and then they were willing stop by and work on mine for a very reasonable price.

@Kyle Strouse @Marc Winter - Thanks, appreciate the feedback

Hi JD, thanks for the response.

The program is a 50/50 split, but from what I understand the cost should be pretty low anyways since it's only one section of sidewalk that needs repair (<$100).  So if that's the case I was thinking I'd rather just pay the full price to avoid the hassle of transferring the utilities. 

Hello,

The Mesquite city inspector informed me that at my rental property there's a section of uneven sidewalk that is a trip hazard.  I know the city has a cost share program for making these kind of repairs, but they tell me I'm not eligible because one of the requirements is the water bill being in my name.  So seems like I have to get this taken care of on my own.

Can anyone recommend a contractor or handyman that does this kind of concrete repair?  Most of the contractors/companies I've reached out to either won't come out for such a small job, or have a minimum charge that's way more that what something like this should cost.  

Appreciate any help or advice.  Thanks!

Eric

@Costin I.  From what I gathered, since my realtor gave me the lease in his capacity as my agent, I should be in the clear. 

@Jasmine B. @Frank Chin @Michael Plaks @Corby Goade @Mark S.

It seems the wise move would be to get the help of a CPA to get me started in the right direction.  

Thank you all for your responses!

@Tony Trinh I financed with a conventional loan.  I put 25% down instead of 20%, just because the difference in rate I got was significant enough that I felt it was worth it.

Hi Everyone,

I closed on my first rental property at the tail end of last year, and had tenants moved in for about a month.  Given that this is my only investment property, and it was owned for such a short amount of time last year, I've been on the fence about whether I need a CPA, or if I'd be able to handle filing taxes on my own with TurboTax (curious to hear others take on this).

I decided to test out TurboTax first to see how I do.  So far I've run into a few questions (some probably pretty basic ones).

• Closing costs - In this section in TurboTax, I wasn't certain about some of the terminology they use vs. what I see in my closing documents.  Are my assumptions below correct?
  
  • Abstract and Recording Fees = origination fee?
  • Land survey = appraisal fee?
  • Transfer tax = recording fee?
• Repairs vs. CapEx - I had two large windows in the living room replaced prior to tenants moving in. I believe this would be categorized as CapEx and be depreciated instead of entering as an expense, is that right?
  • In TurboTax I entered the amount for this in the section for remodeling costs.  Do I need to separately enter it as an asset to be depreciated?
• Property tax and insurance - If I only owned the property for 2 months last year, do I only enter 2 months worth of tax/insurance as expenses?  I paid 12 months of insurance as a prepaid item during closing.
• Loses - After entering everything, I showed a total net loss of $3463, and a deductible loss of $450.  Is this because my total income last year was close to 150K, so my rental property losses are not deductible from my overall income?  If so, will these 2017 losses I cannot deduct carry over to 2018?

Appreciate any feedback you can provide.  Thanks!

Eric

@Craig Clark I don't think you're alone on that, there were definitely times when I felt discouraged as well.  There seemed to be a lot of competition in the price range I was targeting, and I was losing out on a lot of offers.  But after seeing/analyzing a lot of properties and making many offers, I was lucky to get one accepted that is turning out to be a great deal!

@Tyler Ashworth Thanks!  I got the property for around 170, didn't quite reach the 1% target but I was happy to be able to get pretty close (around .9).