All Forum Posts by: Nina Ning

I have a tenant late paying April rent. I gave her 3 day notice and She  told me that she filed bankruptcy  last week and also planned to move out on 4/30.  I do have one month deposit but she has about $1800 unpaid past utility bills. I understand filing eviction has some costs too. In this case, shall I  let it go and take the loss of utility bills and cleaning cost later on? I hope the property didn't have any damages. i plan to do an inspection before they move out.  Thanks for your thoughts on this! Nina

@Nicholas Aiola I'm considering a cost seg study on my two rentals (both new constructions SFH) that I bought in 2021. I'm debating to use DIY or go through a engineering firm. I consulted with one engineering firm. Their cost is more than $3000 on each. But their initial estimated personal property is only 8%. I don't own land improvement on this one. But I saw people talking about 30% (5, 7 and 15 years). Which % is normally I can expect ? Do you have any clients that did DIY Cost seg study? Thank you! Nina

Thanks everyone's advise! In California or at least the city I have that rental, whenever tenant doesn't pay the water bill, the property owner is responsible for the past due, and the city will put a lien on property if the past due is more than 60 days. So in this case, even the tenant transferred the water, I, as the owner, will end up footing the bills.  But definitely I'll want to see their account numbers before I hand over the keys next time! 

I like the idea to add the utilities to the ledger and the money paid will go to utility first and rent, then send them the monthly statement.

Some update after I stopped by the property this afternoon: I first rang the bells several times but no answer so I left the property. But before I got back to my car, i saw the daughter went into the property so I knew then there is people in the property. I went back and rang the bells again three times but still no answer. After I left again, I saw a text message from the tenant saying that they have COVID and are quarantining inside so they couldn't open the door. At least they are sending me something rather than radio silence to any texts, emails or calls. I then texted back telling her I  wanted to understand her situation and when she plan to pay the bills. She told me she will pay by Thursday and apologized on lack of communication. We will see if I get paid on Thursday.  But at least I got some responses.  Nina

@Michael Dumler The lease states that tenant is responsible for all utilities.  One thing I didn't do is to have her show me the proof that she transferred the utility accounts. For water bills, even if it's under my name, if the tenant doesn't pay, the city will bill to the owner and will put a lien on the property if it's past due more than 60 days. I plan to knock on her door later today to see if I can talk to you in person.  Thanks for your advise!

@Matthew Bowling we have ACH setup for the rent so she can use the same method to pay me the utilities. She is supposed to setup the payment with utility companies directly. But she didn't either way.  Thanks Nina

I have a single family house with solar panel installed in California. So I have to be the one on the bill for the solar generated power. As far as water, tenants told me she signed up with the city to take over the water, but I just found out that the water is still under my name and two months of water bills are not paid. I had to pay for the power and water and send the bills (two months) to the tenant but no responses. She did pay the monthly rent though. I sent her several emails, texts but only one response saying she has a chaotic situation. I replied to her asking about the situation and  willing to work out something with her but still no response. What can I do in this situation? It's been about 2 to 3 weeks when I first contacted her. 

Thanks for your advise. Nina

@Nicholas Aiola I'm still wondering if I can deduct $5000 as startup cost for the cost incurred before the in-service date. Thanks Nina

If I only have one or two rental properties, would IRS consider it an active trade or business so I can deduct Start up costs at least for $5000 ? Has anyone done the deduction in my situation? Thanks Nina

@Nicholas Aiola  I acquired two properties in 2020, which one of them is new construction in LA and I only placed a deposit of $5000 in 2020 and waited for its completion in FEB 2021. I did buy another property in Dallas in October 2020 remotely. So my question hopefully you can help shed some lights is whether I can deduct the travel expense looking for properties in LA area even i didn't have rental in service until 2021. For the Dallas property I had some repairs after the service date, can I deduct those cost? I had a larger renovation cost before service date, can I deduct $5000 from it as startup cost?  Thanks in advance! Nina

@Will Gaston I'm adding the clause for neighbor complaints in my lease. Could you share how you word it ?  If tenants are compliant to local laws such as the volume of their noise etc, but neighbor happened still complaining, will the tenants still be fined?  Thanks Nina

I just did one remote closing myself. The title company get everything ready. They will send all paperwork to a certified notary personnel and will meet with you to sign. Then the paperwork will be notarized and fedex'ed back to title company to have sellers to sign. You will receive an executed contract after that.  i asked the title company to send me a copy earlier so i can review it beforehand and have any questions answered before I meet with the notary person. Good luck! Nina