All Forum Posts by: Nathan S.

Thanks @Dave Van Horn and @Aaron Smith I must have skimmed over "the principal place of business for your rental activity, ­including a home office."

I was going to wait until my third rental property to use a CPA for taxes, but I may start next year even if I don't hit number three.   I will look into the home office deduction...I just get a little paranoid with the IRS!

Hi BP world, I am currently not taking a home office deduction since the entire space I use in my primary residence for my rental business is also used for personal activities (computer, file cabinet, office desk).  Am I still able to consider my primary residence as a home office for purposes of mileage deduction to and from my rental properties and any errands involved in the business?

It is the primary place I conduct rental business and Nolo's Every Landlords Tax Deduction Guide seems to elude that I can get the mileage deduction.

@Justin Young I manage 290 units in suburban Minneapolis.  Email works best.

@Percy N. You might be right.  I might have to make the move when switching employers sometime in the future.  I just rolled over my plan three months ago too!

@Brian Eastman As a strategy for those who invest in buy/hold and maintain a W2 job, would you suggest rolling over an employer-offered 401k into a Solo 401k and ramping up contributions to lower your taxable income overall (assuming you file personal income taxes along with your rental business)?  I also don't want to lose my company's 4% match on my 5% contribution.  Any thoughts?

Earning while sleeping

@Michael Noto Thanks.  I agree 100%.  I am not looking to sell, but wanted to keep it open.  I could always consider adding a few years down the line if plans change.

Hi BP'ers.  Does any have experience with adding verbiage into their lease or addendums that gives the owner the right to terminate the lease with the tenant (not at the end of the lease) in 30/60/90 days because of a decision to sell the property?  

I assume that as long as your tenant agreed and signed, this process could be legally binding.  However, I feel that it may be hard for a tenant to sign such an addendum because of the unknown. I would not be offering the reverse (tenant's right to terminate earlier than the lease end date).

Thanks!

I'd love to chat with you sometime or look over the details of a potential deal.  If I can convince my wife, I'd love to do another deal soon, but I might be 1-2 years out.  Though, practice makes perfect. I am strong in Property Management and have taken tax deductions as a hobby, so hit me up if you ever want to have a conversation. 

Though I mostly agree with Chris, many renters choose to renters because of the convenience of not having to fix anything and will come to expect that type of service.  Light bulbs should, for example, be the responsibility of the residents.  However, if your renter has rented from an apartment community in the past that is professionally managed, it is likely that they've had the clogged toilets as a service their maintenance team would handle.

Along Chris's point, you don't want your resident fixing plumbing issues like broken sinks and toilets because they could make the problem worse.  If the renter themselves caused the issue, it is best to have a third party (a plumber for example) verify that in writing, fix the problem and then you have the ability to charge this back to the renter or at worse, take it from the deposit upon move-out.