All Forum Posts by: Nick Causa

I’ve been hearing about self directed IRAs (Roth/Traditional) and 401ks being used to fund deals frequently. Why is this a good stretegy other than having access to the $? Aren’t you losing out on the real estate tax benefits using retirement accounts? Thoughts?

Quick question: We’re new to landlording and a pump in our tenant’s unit broke leaving them unable to use the kitchen sink for 5 days until the plumber can replace it. We bought the house 2 months ago knowing the pump situation isnt best and were going to replace it during a renovation anyway. Didnt think it would crap out so quickly Haven’t dealt with this in the past but should we knock $ off the rent? If so how much? Should it be a percentage? Or nothing at all?

Bought our first duplex and are going to utilize a live in flip BRRR strategy. We plan on reno-ing the upstairs unit we’ll be living in while a tenant is already downstairs. Then, when that is completed, move downstairs (rent the upstairs) and do the same down there. My question is in regard to the cash out refi after all renos are done. Is it correct in assuming its best for the bank to see the two units rented fully with us not living there instead of us living in one unit, renting the other, then doing the refi? Will having both units rented give us a better appraisal? Or does it not matter? I know the bank wants a good debt coverage ratio. Any help appreciated.

Maybe someone could help, or tell me i’m all wrong. I know taxes are your biggest expense and theyve been crushing us. My wife and I own two rental properties. One we house hack and the other we airbnb. We’re W2 employees and our accountant tells us we can’t see any of the deductions on either property because we make more than 150k combined on our W2. Does this make sense? Last year we paid a hefty $9000+ tax bill. The year before it was $6000+. We contribute to a 401k but we cut that contribution down significantly to help us buy an investment property. Any suggestions?

Ok thats what i figured. The only issue becomes, should we have a repair, that emergency fund $ will now be tied up no?

Follow up question: we have the two properties and i like the idea of building up $10k for each but do any of you guys keep that invested in say a bond index fund of anything? I hate the kdea of $20k just sitting in two different bank accounts if were not using it all that often.

Thanks for all your help with this guys. My wife and I built up just about $10k in personal emergency savings before buying the property but thats personal so I’d rather have some additional right? I assume you all recommend having that amount for rental purposes as well? Also, would you say that once you hit 10k then that is for all things expenses? Like vacancy, capex, and maintenance? Or should there be more for each? And i assume you’d keep building that up even though you have a desired amount whatever that is?

Received our first rent check. Feels good. I have certain amounts that i want to divy up to go towards future expenses (capex etc). We also set up a competely separate account for the house. Do we leave that excess in the account after paying the mortgage? So if rent is $1500, the mortgage is $800, and all future expenses (capex, vacancy, maintnance) are $500 (these arent real numbers im just making them up) do we just keep leaving $500 every month in the account until we need it?

Looking to remodel a multifamily and brought an architect in. What i want to do is either put a bedroom in the attic for one of the units or put an addition on the home for a bedroom. This way we’ll add more value to the home while also being able to get more rent. Our architect loved the idea but then realized our house is at the maximum allowable square footage because of the size lot its on. Quick numbers: the house is on a .09 acre lot, the house is already 2156 square feet, and the property is an R6 which the floor area ratio states the square footage of the house can only be 55% of the lot (.09 acres). Anyone ever run into this? And if so is there a way around it?

We finally bought a duplex. We’ll be moving in shortly but first want to renovate the unit we’ll be living in. Our plan is to do that, live in the renovated unit until the tenant’s lease downstairs is up in February. Then move down there, reno that, then refinance. My question is, would it make sense to refinance after doing the first unit and then doing it again after the second reno? Or would that not make sense because of the closing costs involved? I only ask because it is a long time (more than likely more than a year total) to leave our $ in the house after both renos.