All Forum Posts by: Patrick I.

Hello MN BP Community.

I have two questions I hope you could help me with:

- Is Section 8 and HRA Voucher the same program?

-How was your experience with HRA/Section 8 tenants, if any?

Thank you

@Graeme Williams,

I may give you a non real estate response that you would not expect:

Picture yourself on your death bed, rehashing what went in your life, what you did or did not do for one reason or another. What would you regret the most:

1. Taking the risk and pushing yourself beyond what you thought was your limited potential and finding that you could actually perform at 200% instead of 50% or 100%, be more successful than you thought; or

2. Not taking the risk, not knowing if there could have been something better for you in your life (personal, professional, family)

I am going to be 32, married with a kid and the only thing I regret is not starting earlier as you have the option to do.

As all businesses, real estate has some risks. Your knowledge, the systems you put in place and many different things can help you mitigate the risk. Ultimately, the decision is yours to take.

Good Luck.

Thank you for your contribution @Tony Otis, @Jordan Moorhead, @James W., @Justin Thiesse

@Silvia Xu

Is this for buy and hold or wholesale?

John;

The short answer to your question about the date: you are in the rental business officially the day you advertise it as available to be rented. This is commonly called the "service date"

How are expenses handled: all depends on when the expenses were incurred in reference to the service date (before or after), and the qualification of the work done on the property (repairs vs. improvements). Mostly anything you do before the service date will be added to the cost basis of the property and depreciated over 27.5. If a repair was done after the service date, it will be eligible for deduction for that year taxes. If it is an improvement, you will have to depreciate over 27.5.

Just so you know, I am not a CPA and all I just said came from my reading of

"Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide" 14th edition from Nolo. I strongly suggest that you get a copy. You may want to talk to a real estate CPA instead if you need a quick answer.

Good Luck

Good Morning MN BP Community;

I will be closing on my first property in a couple of weeks and I was wondering if you could share some advice about rent collection. I am hesitant about accepting checks and would rather go with anything different method of collection. Ideally, I am looking into automated/e-payment methods such as Zelle.

How do you collect your rents?

What suggestions do you have?

Thank you

Tyler,

I am not familiar with the laws in your current state. However in Minnesota, 30-day notice is required from Landlord for month-to-month. Look in your state regulation. If you are not sure or cannot find it, try giving the tenant 2 to 3 months.

Good luck

Eduardo,

Brandon's real estate investing book is really good. I also recommend:

- the property management book from Brandon - so that you can learn about managing your future property and what to expect

- a book on rental regulation on your state. Each states has rules regulating what you can and cannot do should you want to rent a property. It is a must for you to read to avoid law suits and other ways you may break the law without knowing it.

Good Luck

Charles;

I understand your fear. The truth is, all of us at some point have gone through it. I am fairly new as well (started on July 2017) but I am working on closing on my first property. I overcame my fears by doing a lot of reading and a lot of actions. It seems that you have read a lot already, so I am not going to mention it again. These are things that I did that helped me ease my anxiety and got me ready to start:

- Visit as many properties as possible to get comfortable with them and understanding what is on the market and what you could look for. You can do this by going through every open house in your area or by asking to team up with a realtor so that he can help you do it. I personally visited 40+ properties

- Find a realtor you can connect with. You need an honest realtor on your side. The first realtor at the first open house may not be the one trustworthy one you are looking for, but you would find one you can connect with by going to the different  open houses. This realtor will get to know you, your plans and should work in the best of your interest. Visit as many properties with the realtor as you can.

- If you are afraid of losing your money, try to get a duplex where you can live in one unit and rent the other. That may help ease your worry a bit.

I hope this was somehow helpful.

Good Luck

Jasmine,

I am not able to answer that question specifically, but I would recommend "Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide" published by NOLO, if you have not read it yet. It is heavy in taxes and the last section deals with filling out Schedule E.

Good Luck