All Forum Posts by: Lisa Graesser

I include in the depart instructions to have the used linens washed and at least put in the dryer prior to departure. I have never had a complaint and everyone has been compliant so far. 

@Dmitry fomichenko yes that definitely helps, I will be scrapping  the SDIRA idea, thank you for your input. 

@dmitriy fomichenko    Thank you for your response. A late night error though on my part. I meant to say he will be 59 1/2, which as I understand is the age he can start withdrawing without penalty. 

If puchased through a SDIRA, would we only be prohibited to use the rental until he is a certain age or ever? 

As of now we only stay at our rentals when we are working on them, but it is necessary for us to do so because we are very hands on and I manage the rentals myself. 

So if I am understanding you correctly, if we withdraw the money at 59 1/2, we wouldn't be penalized, but taxed on the amount withdrawn, then taxed on any  income from the rental. But using the SDIRA we would not be taxed on the money being withdrawn to purchase the rental and the income from the rental would be tax sheltered, but we would not be able to use the vacation rental at all. 

Lisa

My husband will be 57 1/2 in 2019. Is there an advantage to starting a self directed IRA with money he has in a past employers IRA or just draw money from that IRA or his regular 401k when he turns 57 1/2, if we wanted to use some of it for a down payment on a vacation rental

I have 2 vacation homes in Florida and I advertise on Zillow, VRBO and a local website. I receive at least 1/2 of my booking through Zillow which expands out to Trulia and Hotpads. Good luck, l hope you love this market as much as I do.

I do attach a rental agreement to my VRBO bookings. Basically spells out rules to follow, like check in check out times, house responsibilities, pet rules, use of bikes and golf cart, cost of lost keys, need to wash and dry linens prior to departure. This way they are aware and  agreeing to all these terms prior to booking. I also send detailed information about the area and the house for their arrival, departure and stay when final payment is made.

if you want to take advantage of the tax write offs, but still be able to be present at the property to take care of any maintenance and updates, I would recommend always having it available for rent  and only going there when it is not rented. You have to have the ability to be flexible with your plans and adjust when needed to accommodate a renter, if you want to be able to claim expenses  and show you are intending to make a profit

I am no expert, but can only speak from experience. The sooner you can offer it for rent with proof of advertising it for rent, the sooner you can write off the expenses. Otherwise the expenses prior to being offered for rent are considered capital expenses and can not be written off in the year they were accrued. Although you can deduct a certain amount as a start up expense and I think the limit is $5000. Please correct me if am wrong, but that is how I had to handle expenses prior to the house being available for rent in previous years.

I think the majority of people are expecting a TV with a full cable package. That is not something I  would skimp on.