All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Chang

I am sorry I don't know what it means to sell it for a loss.  If I bought the lot for $400k and subdivide it in 2 equal lots and sell one lot for $200k is that sell at a loss?  

Hello.

I purchased a 1.8 acre lot recently.  I am planning to subdivide the lot into 2 lots.  I will keep 1 acre to build my dream home and sell the other lot (0.79 acre).  If I wait 1 year to sell do I pay less capital gains tax?  What happens if I am not able to sell?  Can I write it off as a loss? (for example, lot purchase $400K but if I am not able to sell subdivided lot for $200K). Thank you in advance.

I got a call from my tenant today saying that the garage door is not closing completely.

I went by to inspect and found the top part of the garage door was damaged and would not let it completely close.

Tenant said her young daughter was home when she heard a sound outside, but did not come out to check.

My tenant seems confused as much as I am.

I don't think my tenant is lying to me, but I have no way of finding out who damaged the garage door.

This obviously is not a wear and tear, but clearly damaged.

Any suggestions on how to address this?

Would you bill this to your tenant?

Thanks in advnace.

Quote from @Jeffrey Chang:

Quote from @Joe Splitrock:

Quote from @Jeffrey Chang:

Hello.
I purchased a lot to build my home about 20 months ago.  I spent about $30,000 to remove the existing foundation.  Now, I am going to sell the lot.  Can I deduct $30,000 from the sale price in order to calculate the capital gains?

Thanks.

 Yes you can deduct that expense because it is considered an improvement. Just make sure you have invoice/receipt, proof of payment (paid by check) and 1099 sent to the contractor if required. If the company that removed it has an "Inc." after their name, the 1099 is not required.

Thank you for your response.
Can I also deduct the architect fee ($10K) and maintenance cost ($3000)? 
Best,

Oh and the property taxes ($7000)?

Quote from @Joe Splitrock:

Quote from @Jeffrey Chang:

Hello.
I purchased a lot to build my home about 20 months ago.  I spent about $30,000 to remove the existing foundation.  Now, I am going to sell the lot.  Can I deduct $30,000 from the sale price in order to calculate the capital gains?

Thanks.

 Yes you can deduct that expense because it is considered an improvement. Just make sure you have invoice/receipt, proof of payment (paid by check) and 1099 sent to the contractor if required. If the company that removed it has an "Inc." after their name, the 1099 is not required.

Thank you for your response.
Can I also deduct the architect fee ($10K) and maintenance cost ($3000)? 
Best,

Hello.
I purchased a lot to build my home about 20 months ago.  I spent about $30,000 to remove the existing foundation.  Now, I am going to sell the lot.  Can I deduct $30,000 from the sale price in order to calculate the capital gains?

Thanks.

I really appreciate all of your feedback.  I agree with all of you.   Thanks again.

Hello.
I have a rental property that I manage.
Tenant complained of sewer smell coming from the basement so I called a plumber to come out.  The plumber found that a cap covering the sewer pipe was opened by boxes that tenant placed next to it.  Nothing was broken.  The plumber sealed the cap and charged $79 for trip fee.
Should I ask tenant to pay this bill since the problem was caused by the tenant?
Thank you.

JC

Thank you both for your prompt help.

Everywhere I looked there was no mention of down payment and I figured that it's not factored in, but I just couldn't understand why I would pay to pay capital gains tax on my down payment.  

Hi.

I am planning on selling a rental property in 3 months. I am trying to determine how much tax I would be responsible after sale.

One thing I am not sure about and I can't seem to get an obvious answer is: are you taxed on down payment when I purchased the property?

Ex: Let's say I bought the property at 200K. I put down 50K as down payment. I sold the property at 300K. The remaining mortgage is 100K. Let's assume I didn't claim any depreciation or do any improvement. Is the capital gains on 200K or 150K (minus 50K)?

Thank you.