All Forum Posts by: Ian K.

I appreciate all the discussion and solutions.  I do have enough deposit to replace the trex boards.  They are 20 feet long, but this is the best selling point of the whole home: an elevated deck with an unobstructed view of the mountains.  I'll try to clean it again with some of the solutions provided.  I'll test out some IPE oil nearby and see if that works. Then hire someone to do the work. 

Tenants left this stain on an elevated trex deck.  How would you handle this?  I can see replacing the boards that are stained or is it possible to caculate the replacement cost of the full deck minus depreciation due to it being about 12 years old. The property is located in Colorado.  

I do 12 month leases.  I've found they don't care too much if they are not there in the summer especially if it is a competitive market.  Usually one or two will stay at the house over the summer but all of them pay.  This might not be the case everywhere as I'm sure it is a local way of doing things.   In Denver, college students are competing with everyone else so they have to take what they can get.  

I don't have any experience either. I did look into them though a bit and I came to the conclusion that I would rather just do a 1031 into a Delaware statutory trust (DST). I think a DST might afford more investment options and flexibility. For example, if you want to get back into Real estate with the flock funds you can't. You can't 1031 from flock into another like kind investment. It does seem though that one of their value add services is an easy sale into the flock. That could be appealing to some investors who just want out quickly and easily.

@Patrick M. Thanks for the thoughtful response. I agree that providing our kids with opportunities now will be more valuable than a stepped up basis on a bunch of properties in 30-50 years. I've got a handful of properties now but I don't think I need anymore and therefore am at the stage where I'm contemplating how to exit. It will likely be in 10 to 15 years but eventually it will happen. I need to find a way to compare the index funds route to the DST route side by side over 20 years or so. I was asking about DSTs because I wonder if you already figured that index funds might compare similarly over the long term to doing 4-5 1031s over 20 years within a DST. Or would a DST earn more but considering tradeoffs you still prefer the index funds? These are the questions I think about.

@Patrick M. Would you just cash out and pay taxes on it or invest it in Delaware statutory trust properties?

I've never had complaints. I would show them a water bill or xcel bill if they asked though.  I worked with a property manager for a minute and they wanted to charge each house $100 for water when the total bill is under $100 for two units.  I guess you could charge for your time to set up the bill, but that seemed excessive.  Electricity and gas are different stories though.  I would think you can get the carriage house on its own meter.  Is the carriage house receiving power from the main house or from it's own line?  Xcel required me to add a meter to my carriage house and give it it's own line.  It was an unexpected cost of about $3000 and a long story.  But the mother in law you should just bake the cost into the rent.  It will cost a lot of money to split the house.  

Why not just do RUBS, ratio utility billing system, which just means you divide the bill by the number of people using the utility.  Or to even make it easier charge a flat rate that will cover the utility for the month.  I do this on some of my rentals where the houses are not sub-metered.  I charge $15 per person for water for one property and $75 for a flat water fee for another house.  If you want to split the electricity make sure you contact xcel before you do anything.  I had an issue where the city inspector approved my permit but xcel didn't like how it was connected and I still had to change it

I'd think about selling and taking that money and putting it towards a house hack.  I'd prefer to do that over renting out of state depending upon your situation of course.  The issue with selling is finding a new place, but maybe you have options while you are looking.  But you also haven't owned it that long, so maybe wait a year and then sell in order to increase your equity and make repairs on your own such as painting.  

Keep in mind the 5/2 rule so you don't get hit with a huge tax bill.  You can rent out your primary home for up to 3 years as long as you have lived in it 2 out of the last five years and not have to pay capital gains tax when you sell.  If you rent it one day longer than 3 years you will have to pay capital gains tax on the appreciation.