All Forum Posts by: Johann Jells

After nearly 20 years of preparing my own form E, I have a pretty good feel for all of those numbers and when I have have all my data correct.  My business is mostly managing my rentals not making deals, so it's just not that complicated. It does really appear that I'm just paying for data entry in a glorified Turbotax.

@Johnny Quilenderino @Russell Brazil I'm curious, what do these accountants do for you besides data entry? I did my own Schedule E for many years using Turbotax, and now I give my final category totals and other numbers to the accountant who simply enters them and charges me a lot of money for it. It's not like I'm giving him shoeboxes of papers! I honestly have a hard time seeing the value, it's not like I'm getting constant advice about stuff. 

Sounds in the ballpark, I was shocked by the cost when we formed an LLC and got an accountant after years of DIY filing. Just the other day we talked to another firm and they estimated for a personal return with 2 schedule Cs, and an S-corp return: $3000!!! We politely declined.

Does anyone have actual intel that they will move Cozy customers over to their own interface rather than leave Cozy as-is? It's not like Zillow has shut down Hotpads etc. 

You left out what your capitalization and expected appreciation are. Don't make the mistake of obsessing about cashflow if you're in a hot appreciating area with potential for rising rents when the Covid sh*tshow blows over. The cashflow junkies are in areas that don't appreciate. In my city there's tons of investors in negative cashflow condos. Not my cup of tea, but I've been studying it.

I'd say it depends on your skillset. If you can do basic tilework: put in a proper CBU substrate, apply a membrane of some kind and set tile in thinset, It doesn't matter that much what tile you install. Well installed tile will last generations. I have some that is 70 years old. Badly installed, and all bets are off. Might not last 5 years. It's not the tile itself that fails!

Basic 3x6 white subway tile with black trim is my favorite, old fashioned look for old buildings is right. I'd advise against natural stone of any kind. Last surround I did was 6x12 porcelain "travertine look", because the bath had other pink/tan features. There's lots of inexpensive porcelain that is literally jet printed with stone patterns, I love it for kitchen floors and counter backsplashes.

I've had lots of cat owning tenants. No problems. I forbid dogs since their noise can affect the quality of life in my multifamilies. Dogs are like crying babies that never grow out of it. I won't say bad cats don't exist, but in general they're pretty low impact. A cat that prefers destroying a wall rather than their owners furniture is rare! I did have a cat that when she was a kitten we hung a toy from the newel post of the stairs, it was hard to break her of the habit of clawing her way up that oak post!

@Andrew Wicklow, I'm curious, is there a difference between coverage of legally grandfathered non-conforming and plain "Zoning violation" non-conforming? Around here there's tons of grandfathered non-conforming that could not be rebuilt in the event of a total loss without a variance.

What exactly are they in violation of? Do you put a limit in the lease? I have occupancy limits but if a single person takes a unit with a 2 person limit I don't change it to a 1 person limit. I've never had a problem with tenants I've placed and written the lease taking in their partners, but have had issues with legacies taking in new disruptive partners.  I currently have the batsh*t crazy girlfriend of a legacy tenant in a 4 unit property. She's huge, aggressive and her normal voice is a shout! But given they're both on SSI and this is NJ I don't think I have any recourse.  I never even received copies of any leases when I bought it. I've just assumed I'd be stuck with her if he OD'd or took off.

Agree with all there's too many categories, and the search sucks forcing people to ask the same questions again and again. I'd like to see an editable 'new posts' feature where I can choose which forums are included. I never look outside the Landlording forum and the moribund DIY because I'm not interested in dealmaking and financing at this point, which is much of the traffic. The DIY is sad, half the posts are people who don't bother to read the description and ask non renovation questions.