All Forum Posts by: Hannah Walker

Hi all.

Thanks in advance to those who help me figure this out!

My husband and I live in SF, we own our home here and recently decided to get a second, vacation home near Twain Harte (2.5hrs) from SF.  The plan is to use this as a second home AND Airbnb to help cover costs.

Our mortgage broker advised a second home loan, as it had much better interest rates.  We will also use it for more than 14 days a year.

I recently started to explore setting up an LLC for the Airbnb vacation rental. I thought the LLC will help mitigate any liability and offset taxes for the business etc. However, from my research, it doesn't seem advantageous to put our second home into the LLC (without changing the deeds to LLC name and thus losing the second home interest rates).

I wondered what advice people have; to ensure I get the best tax benefits and ensure my liability is covered.

* Should I keep LLC and get an even better umbrella policy to cover us for any liability concerns.

* If the second home is not under the LLC, do I even need an LLC are there other ways to get the tax benefits?

Thanks so much. I am a first-time investor.

Hannah

Thank you so much! We have one option of an off market with value.... but could fall through as owner is stalling. If it does fall through then the investing outside of CA seems a wise move. I’m currently looking at Columbus OH as I have a friend there who could help Also Vancouver in WA, a friend is a realtor... Also trying to learn about syndicates, or other ventures with others. I find myself stuck with not knowing where direction/area/method to take ....so I’m keen to join some meet-ups in SF/East Bay and learn from those way ahead of the game! Thanks for taking time to respond. Really helpful!

Hi Tommy

Yes it's crazy out there.  We have a chance of an off market opportunity, with income generated from bonus room and bathroom off garage.  Has scope to work....we'll see.

I am totally new to all of this, so trying to learn as much as possible.  Just got David Greene's Long Distance Real Estate. Very good and recommend 

I'd like to look into syndicating too.

All good learning and need to jump off soon!

Hi there My husband and I have been trying to buy in SF and its pretty intense out there! Beginning to wonder if we are smart to stick with our rent controlled apartment (3 bed $3750) and invest elsewhere in rentals For SF: Our budget is limited to $1.25m. The hope is for a place where we can offset the mortgage with an in-law. Yep, I know that’s a big ask!!! My fear is if we don’t buy now in SF soon and instead use money to invest elsewhere we will get priced out of owning in SF (we have 2 kids and we know we want to be in SF long term) I am a stay at home mom and really enjoying all I am learning through Bigger Pockets. My hope is to get a job ASAP with someone in real estate who I can learn from. If we do buy in SF my dream is still invest elsewhere...just wondering if SF ownership will make that really difficult to achieve. Thanks so much

Hi there My husband and I have been trying to buy in SF and its pretty intense out there! Beginning to wonder if we are smart to stick with our rent controlled apartment (3 bed $3750) and use our cash to buy rental properties in other areas For SF: Our budget is limited to $1.25m with 20% down. The dream is to get a place where we can offset the mortgage with an in-law revenue stream. Yep, I know that’s a big ask!!! My fear is if we don’t buy now in SF soon and instead use money to invest elsewhere we will get priced out of owning in SF (we have 2 kids and we know we want to be in SF long term) I am a stay at home mom but my hope is to get a job in real estate so I can learn. If we do buy in SF dream is still invest...just wondering if SF ownership will make that really difficult to achieve. To buy or not to buy