All Forum Posts by: Jason Barnett

I live in the area... I need to go check this one out!

My investor/realtor just did this and won. I haven't tried it yet (seems silly since I just bought the building for more than the tax appraised value, eh :D) but I fully intend to do this when/if I buy a property for a bargain basement price.

P.S. No, I didn't overpay... it's just that the owner did a lot of repairs that the tax man didn't see yet!

If you are a sole proprietor then it is fairly simple to treat it as normal income. If you keep receipts for all business expenses then you can claim those again income (things like cell phone, office space in your house, repairs and more are all possibilities).

If you're not a sole proprietor then you are probably better off just hiring a tax accountant to do it for you. I will likely have my CPA completed by the time tax time rolls around so drop me a line if you're interested. :superman:

The thing that finally got me investing was finding the right agent. And it was nothing more than dumb luck at that!

I thought about buying a house that had gone to foreclosure. I spoke with the agent that was there and made an off-hand remark that I was thinking about investing. Lo and behold, she told me that she had been investing herself for about 10 years. She and I talked (she taught me a lot) and after 3 months of searching we found a good building for me to start out with. Funny enough, it was one of the buildings that she owned. It was a rehab job that she had done herself and even at that she sold it to me for a fair (not great, but nice) price.

This is nothing new. Just google for "Tulip Bulb Bubble" or "South Sea Bubble" for some older examples. Why does it happen? Some of it is greed, but mostly it's just herd mentality. "Hey so-and-so was able to buy a house in San Francisco, then he sold it 3 years later for a 100% gain!"

It's a lot easier to follow than it is to lead. Time for a gut check.

Just bought my first fourplex. I'm into buying / renting out apartments. I am a value-minded investor looking for solid ROI. There are plenty of bargains to be found in this area, but quite frankly I'm having enough fun with my first apartment right now. After I get rolling and have a little emergency funds saved up I'm probably going to start looking for investors.

...some day. One step at a time.

I recently (about a month ago) bought myself a fourplex to rent. This is the first building that I've ever purchased and I'm curious as to how you all think I made out:

Sale price of $130,000 (however I did an FHA loan for the down payment so the total price was $136,900 with the $6900 gifted back to me). At $475 rent I'm having an easy time getting people to come in and look at the property although I still have one vacancy. Taxes are approx. $2300 annually and insurance is $1200 annually as well. Interest rate on the loan is 6%.

I figured it up and including all of the maintenance that I've put into the building I'm going to be about even for this year on a cash basis (I had to repair some flooring, doors, etc.). Add back the tax benefits from starting up my own business and I'm showing a small profit (ROI, not including any appreciation, is around 3%). Is this below average for the first timer?