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Have not seen MidAtlantic mentioned, but that's who I would have gone with had I elected to purchase property through my Roth. Their price structure was the most advantageous I found.

Recommend reading Tax Free Wealth by Tom Wheelwright to anyone considering acquiring properties with a retirement account.

"Run the numbers. On a $24K property, the difference between a 58% allocation to depreciable improvements and a 75% allocation is $4000. Over the class life of the property, the difference in your allowable depreciation is about $145 (rounded) per year.

In the 25% tax bracket, a 75% allocation only reduces your annual tax liability by $36 for the property in this example. At this rate, it will take you 27.5 years to save a total of $1000 on your taxes."

You're correct...this issue is not the difference between getting rich and going broke. However, this $1000 you mention is for one property. I own 2 more with this same problem and they are higher value properties, so there's another $3000 or $4000 in depreciation I would prefer to claim. Further, I intend to buy additional properties which (following the trend) may well be a little fat in the land valuation. I simply want to take full advantage of one of the best tax advantages of owning rental property.

"At best, you just break even in this scenario if you plan to eventually sell the property. In the end, your wallet won't be any fatter or thinner regardless of whether you took the 75% allocation to improvements or the 58% allocation."

Correct, but I do not currently have plans to sell it. And with that philosophy, why depreciate property at all if you're only going to pay it back someday? It just makes sense to defer every 2013 tax dollar you can even if you have to repay it 27.5 years from now (unless you anticipate a significant reduction in tax rates between now and then).

Thanks, Bill. In all honesty, I think I will just use the 25/75 rule. There is no mention of land value v. improvement value on the purchase contracts as these were simple single family home purchases. Also, this is an old neighborhood and there's little chance there are vacant lots and less chance any of them sold in recent history.

I'm surprised no one else has had this issue...does everyone else just use the PVA's determination? Does anyone else just use the 25/75 rule and not consult the assessment?

I would like to maximize my depreciation deduction on my taxes. But if I use the PVA's values for land/improvements, I won't have nearly as big of a depreciation deduction as if I used, say the 25/75 rule of thumb. Has anyone else had this situation? Did you use the PVA's assessment or use your own apportionment?

The county assessor's apportionment of land v. improvements seems a bit high to me. On the 4 houses I purchased this summer, the land values are 42%, 42%, 33%, and 22% of the total assessed value. For depreciation purposes, I'd obviously prefer to shift value from land to the improvements. The total assessed value for each of these houses ranges from 24K to 40K, so I'm not going to go broke playing it safe, but hate to give up thousands in depreciation if there is a defensible way around it. Any recommendations?

Yep...putting the state required 7-day notice in the mail today at lunch. I'll email it and call him this afternoon and let him know it's coming. Nice guy, I hate having to do this. But I hate not getting rent even more...

I'm in Kentucky...there is an excellent Landlord/Tenant guide for the state which I am sure has all the details. All good responses...thanks again!

Ok...good inputs and advice. Assuming he cannot pay, should I file the eviction notice today? Is that eviction revocable if he comes up with the rent within the next couple days? Thanks again for the advice.

Tried searching the forums, but nothing quite fit my scenario...

I inherited a tenant when I bought an investment property in May of this year. He has paid rent almost always on time and without too much of an issue. He is blind and dependent on his daughter and nephew to help with the money order and mailing, so I've overlooked him being a day or two late when he couldn't get to the post office or he lost my address somewhere on his computer.

He insists he mailed the Nov rent on 11/1 but has no receipt for the money order. He says he did not detach the receipt prior to mailing...he has done this in the past, so it's entirely feasible he did this again. His rent is due on the 4th so he's now into late fee territory and I'm trying to figure out what I need to do to protect myself. I'm inclined to believe him when he says he mailed the rent (or at least believes he mailed the rent), and based on that I would prefer to keep him as a tenant, but there's no way he could cough another rent payment. Bottom line, I'd prefer to keep him if this is indeed an isolated incident, but I need my rent money.

Other notes: He is still answering my calls, so he's not avoiding me as of yet. He says he has an appointment with a counselor a week from today to see if they can provide money to help him with rent.

I was planning to propose that he pay an additional $50 per month until the $700 is paid or until he moves out and I can recoup the balance owed from the deposit. Any comments on this plan or other ideas?