All Forum Posts by: Jeff N.

My lease says I need to give 24 hour notice and it has to be within 8am-8pm   So far I'm on good terms with our tenant so I just shoot them a txt,  hey swinging by to do such and such, you cool with that?   "yup"    but if he wanted to he could say no, I need 24 hours heads up.

Of course it's also in there that emergency reasons are reason for entry with no notice needed.  Flooding, Fire...

I apologize ahead of time since I'm asking a lot of basic tax questions, and I'm also just listing this stuff off as it comes to mind.   With that being said...

Clearly anything done to the house from here on out can be tax deductible but what about the cost of getting the house ready for renting out?   For example,  I had a bathroom redone, I also had our front iron railing fixed (new feet welded in, cleaned and painted) and resurfaced the cement steps, and some landscaping.  Since it all happened 2-3 months before the house was rented out,  is it still deductible? Lawyer cost for lease.  Everything was done in prep for renting out the house fast.

Also how do you calculate drive time?   For example,   I live 60 miles from work, our rental home is about 20 miles from work but sorta on the way,  it's slightly off path if I stop by before or after work.   I'm assuming I would have to keep track of the extra miles added to my trip? Maybe 10 miles each way added.   Or would I log the miles to and from the house,  even if I went into work?  40 miles there 40 miles back  (excluding the miles to/from work from our rental house)

If I preform the work, would I just write off the cost of drive time and materials, assuming no labor since no one is being paid.

As for documenting things paid to others (paint guy, tile repair guy, power washing guy)  is a copy of the cleared check sufficient enough for minor handy man work?   

Any other tax tips so I can be ready when 2016 taxes are due?

Thanks!

In Maryland you cannot collect more than 2 months of rent for a security deposit.   Do you know if by law you can even charge them $3000.00?  That could add to the issue if it is a no...

he said most likely 1 hour.  90 minutes at most.  

Trick with anything legal is you never have any issues until you do and then a judge might eat you up if it isn't correct.    For me paying to have a lease done by a lawyer at least the first time out is worth the peace of mind.

Pretty sure Annapolis has its own rules that are outside the normal Anne Arundel Co rules.   regardless I have no issue getting those things done if needed.  Just another thing to add to the check list, but I don't think I need to.  

I spoke with an attorney that someone referred me to and he spent a good bit of time on the phone talking lease things.  Said I could write up a lease and hand it to him,  he would have to reread and fix any issues,  or for about the same time if not less he could just write it up and not have to worry about missing anything.   Very friendly and seemed to be straight forward with any info I asked him.    What should I expect to pay in this area?  His rates were $150 for 1/2 hour which was about what I had expected.

also if you happen to have a sample lease id really appreciate it.    

thanks James.  Do you have any attorneys you recommend?   Also do you know the going rate in this area?   

Not sure how to judge A B or C class homes.   It is located in a higher end area.  For example a 1 bedroom apartment in our neighborhood runs $1500-1900 depending on options 3 bedrooms are $2000+

We are looking to rent a home when we move since we are not sure where we will be in 2-3 years.   We noticed a lot of the listings we were looking at had minimum 720+ credit scores.  That's kind of where that came from.  

Our plan is to ask $2200 for our TH,  that would place a tenant's income in the $80K range.   Maybe going to a 640+ credit score + the income requirements would make sense.   Our target renter is gov/dod workers.   Many of them are not looking for long term living,  but rather nice living for 1-2 years at a time.   on top of that for their clearance they will need a good credit score to maintain it so it shouldn't be an issue. 

The thought of using cozy was more so for the background checks,  online payment, and basic accounting needs.   Sure I can send a bill myself,  but the thought of them paying me thru a webpage seems much easier,  even more so if they setup auto pay.

Currently the main concern I have is getting the right lease written up.  I don't mind paying to have it done right but I would like to at least get most of it done so I can save time on the lawyer's time.

Due to work,  we are planning on renting out our house.  I plan on managing everything myself, once rented out, we would be moving about an hour away,  and I will still work part time near our soon to be rental property.   Dropping by to fix stuff, or check in on things wouldn't be hard.

I run a restaurant and deal with hiring, firing, and all the other fun stuff that comes with it so I'm use to dealing with people and having my phone go off 24/7   I plan on setting high standards for tenants and sticking to my guns even if it means spending a bit more time trying to find the right person for the house.   Background checks and credit checks are a must.  Thankfully we are not in a rush to rent the house out, the sooner the better but if it takes 2-3-4 months, we are fine since we currently live in the home.

I do have a few questions for the forum.

Does anyone here have or know where I can find a Anne Arundel County lease template?   I plan on writing up my lease agreement before hiring an attorney to review it.

Does anyone recommend a real estate attorney that would know AACO leases so I can have them review and fix any issues I have with the lease I drafted?  Many websites offer free ones,  but are they legit?  They seem like a one size fits all, lease.  If you don't,  could you please give me an idea of what I should expect to pay for one?

Credit scores,  what do you use for a minimum credit score?  720+  740+?

Property management programs,  since we would only have 1 unit,  I'm thinking Cozy,  its free, and while it's basic it might fit our needs of a single unit operation.   Anyone recommend using another product, and if so, why?

Thanks for any help!