All Forum Posts by: Wesley C.

My advice: Sell both homes, move here to Tennessee and never work another day as long as you live.  You'd live like a king here.  Just kidding, but it's true.

One upside is that you can get some leads this way. If people know you buy distressed properties you'll be the first they come to when a loved one dies or a divorce happens and they want or need to sell quickly. They look at you as a way to sell quickly and avoid real estate commissions.   

A negative is when coworkers want to rent from you. I've had this happen and it isn't comfortable. In my opinion it's a bad idea for lots of reasons, but you have to be diplomatic in saying no.

Very helpful stuff, Brandon. Had to read that twice. I'll definitely consider all this and weigh my options.  Thanks for your responses.

@Brandon Hallundefined

Bought the house in 2014 for 85K and put about 5K in improvements in it.  In 2015 hardly done any repairs, less than 1K for sure.  Siding is going to cost less than 5K (closer to 4 probably)  Home value is around $125K if that matters.

Thanks bill.  Suspected that. 

I've got a house with fiber board siding that is rotting on three sides of the house.  I'm going to put vinyl siding on the three sides of the house that are rotting and and leave the front of the house fiber board because it is in great shape and it cosmetically looks better than vinyl.  Can I deduct this as a repair or is this considered an improvement.  Thanks for your thoughts.

One thing to note.  I've withdrawn money a few times from a Roth, but didn't exceed my contribution amount.  But when Vanguard sent the 1099-R, it didn't specify my cost basis but rather checked the box that said unable to determine if taxable.  If you run into this you must complete a form 8606 when doing taxes or else the IRS will not recognize that it isn't taxable.

Not sure of this talk of filling out anything online. My website only has pictures, amenities, terms, and phone number. I'm just going to forgo putting my number on the actual sign, thus forcing the prospect to learn about the house before calling me. No ducking or slight of hand involved. In fact, I don't have even as much as an application or background check link on my website, just info about the house and my number. Just looking to eliminate the four bedroom seekers when I have a three bedroom, or the ones who want to spend $600 when the property is $1000. Maybe my use of the word "pre-qualify" was the wrong choice of word, but what I meant to say was that the prospect could rule me out before I have a chance to rule them out because the property doesn't fit their needs, thus eliminating unecessary calls.

Considering it is 2014, I'm thinking of only putting my website on my for rent signs and not including my phone number. The website is exclusive to that property and has my phone number there, so its super easy to find on a smart phone. This is an effort to help prospects prequalify themselves before calling me, thus saving them and me superfluous calls. Further, if a person isn't serious enough to look at the listing, then they likely aren't serious prospects anyway. My target demographic isn't seniors who might not be tech savvy,and I don't deal in low income, so my tenants very likely will all have a smart phone. Is this a mistake?

Well, I just answered my own question. I forwarded the email to another email account there is an attachment link. Not sure why the first doesn't give me that option. I guess they are trying to make life simpler for me.