All Forum Posts by: Matt W.

Its an excel spreadsheet. 

Hi BP, 

I just received a delinquent tax list from my local county office. The list is 3600+ line items long and provides the registered owner's address, not the local property that is delinquent. Many of the owners are out of state or just listed as an LLC or PO box. The list contains an identification number that I can plug into the county tax website and search out what the actual property address is, however it is not feasible to do all 3600 like that.

My question is, is there a website or software that can A.) Upload the list to and mail all the owners saying I would like to buy their distressed property?...and B.) Narrow down the list to help me focus on certain zip codes, zoning, etc by cross referencing with county tax data so I am not looking at thousands of properties that do not fit my criteria?

I am looking for SFH to buy myself as BRRRR deals, I'm not into wholesaling. I have only a vague notion about "buying lists" or services that send mailers for you. Is that what services like Propstream are for?

Thanks!

@Brian Morris

Might be worth it to look into dry ice or soda blasting. Might not be available in your area but is way more aggressive at removing than pressure washing and non toxic.

@Linda Weygant

No, but we are not talking podiatrists vs. oncologists, we are talking about a one very simple investment property.  Do you think that is beyond the skill set of any competent CPA? I don't mean that rhetorically, it seems like it should fall squarely within their job description, but maybe I am mistaken about that. Using your analogy, in this case I have a common cold so I need a general practitioner, not a lung surgeon. 

I see what you highlighted, let me clarify that this is his first time doing MY RE taxes because this is my first investment property.  He has been in business for 20+ years. 

If he bungles it, lesson learned by me, but he's done well for us handling all our other tax needs. If I am successful enough in my investing that I get to the point of needing more sophisticated help, I'll seek it out. 

Thanks!

Hi all, figured I'd chime in because I am in a similar situation with James and so many CPAs are on this thread; my question is can I pay my handyman business for repairs and maintenance that I do on my properties.  I understand that this is probably a zero sum idea, since $1 paid to my handyman business is $1 less of passive income from the investing side, but maybe I'm missing something. 

What might make more sense is if I pay myself for work done as a result of damages to the property out of the security deposit.  I work for many other investors in town, so I don't see why this would be a problem or illegal, and in this case it actually is income. 

I know it's apples to oranges, but I worked for GE for many years and they had something like 80 different entities that always contracted with and charged each other for various project, not to mention an army of accountants and lawyers.  

Thanks! 

Thanks, this has all been turned over to my CPA, I'm really asking for my own edification. He is a "typical" CPA, and this is the first year that he's doing RE taxes, so I just want to be semi-prepared to see what he comes back with. If my investments ever get more sophisticated than this basic rental, I'll probably have to find a more RE focused CPA.

Ryan, I just bought the property in October 2019 and only had it rented for December, so not much impact on 2019 taxes either way.  It was pretty much turn key, I did a little painting and submitted those receipts to the accountant. I know the long term depreciation is based on the value of the building, but how is that determined? Based on taxes or an independent appraisal?

Thanks.

Just because I haven't seen it and I do it as an upgrade for a property management company that does STR at the beach, I'll say changing fluorescent bulbs to LEDs.

No buzzing or flickering. They turn on instantly and there is no ballast to fail. Plus they’re more energy efficient and less calls about lights burnt out.

Thanks everyone, I think the knowledge is getting through my thick skull. So to achieve the dream of having a paper loss from real estate it seems necessary to be pretty highly levered and/or operating in more A class areas where your cashflow is lower relative to depreciation and interest. And yes, I know there is tax recapture when you sell unless you do some accounting gymnastics.

 So is the correct math just 1350 rent minus tax, interest and insurance? I was thinking you deduct against the "profit" ie; cashflow, but apparently that is subtracting twice.

Can you explain why it makes a difference if they are "escrow" payments? I understand they go into a bucket to be paid out in lumps later, but does the matter when you are calculating taxes on a monthly basis? 

Thanks!