All Forum Posts by: John Hastie

This is an interesting topic.

I have a Ring Doorbell in my vacation rental property. I use it from time to time as well. It's a house in a gated community and the doorbell shows a courtyard area. I wanted to know when Amazon parcels get delivered and when guests check in.  I have a sticker up...can't even remember what it says.  In any case, my property is rented this Labor weekend. It's advertised as "No pets allowed" and guess what I saw on the Ring ....a dog.

My property is with a property manager and they are dealing with that right now.

That is exactly how I treated it on my tax return this year. No deduction was taken on the HELOC.

Yes, Jesse that's the exact scenario I'm talking about.

I was living in A and took out a HELOC on property A to buy property B. I then moved into property B, making it my primary residence, and converted property A into a rental. A lien was recorded on the title of Property A and the 1098 at year end will show the loan being on Property A. The purpose of the HELOC was to buy my primary residence so it "Feels" right to be able to claim the interest cost but I suspect it probably doesn't work like that. I think I'll try to take out a HELOC on property B to pay back the HELOC on A. That way I'll have a Lien recorded against property B and be good to go.

Thanks very much. That answers my question.

I'm still confused..... I thought I was asking the right question but perhaps I'm not so I will try again.

I understand that the interest is deductible no matter what it is used for but is it a deduction against my Primary or against my Rental??? This is the question I'm trying to answer. Please read the following.

When I get my HELOC statement from the bank at the end of the year it will show the address of the property and that address is the address of the rental property. So, I know it's deductible BUT is it a deduction against the rental OR is it a deduction against the Primary?

I believe there is a difference...am I wrong?

If it is against the rental it increases the loss that I carry forward so has no real impact to me at tax time. If it is against my primary residence I get an immediate benefit and reduction in my tax.

OK, so the fact that there is a lien recorded against a property that is now a rental property and no longer the primary is not an issue?

Hi

I live in California. I took out a HELOC on my primary residence and used the funds as a deposit on another property which then became my primary residence. The previous primary residence was converted into a rental property and a lien was recorded against that rental property for the HELOC.

At tax time, can I attribute the HELOC interest to my primary residence and claim the deduction?

TIA

KIWI