All Forum Posts by: Selina Gruden

 thank you for your input!

Hi, I am new in Dallas, TX area. Just purchased a house and need a lot of work. I am in the process of interviewing the contractors. My realtor referred one to me, and I also checked his reference and got quite good feedback. However, I am surprised to hear he doesn't carry insurance and bond. It seems there is no general contract license needed in TX and any contractor can do the work except plumbing or electrical. Is it a red flag for not having insurance? He is willing to sign a waiver and seems can do the work well, and several investor is using him for their properties. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks~!

Hi, I am new  in Dallas, TX area. Just purchased a house and need a lot of work. I am in the process of interviewing the contractors. My realtor referred one to me, and I also checked his reference and got quite good feedback. However, I am surprised to hear he doesn't carry insurance and bond. It seems there is no general contract license needed in TX and any contractor can do the work except plumbing or electrical.  Is it a red flag for not having insurance? He seems can do the work well and several investor is using him for their properties. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks~!

HI Real Estate friendly CPAs,  I have a question regarding to interest expense deductible for cash out refinance.

We did a cash out refinance for our primary residence in Nov, 2021, loan proceed is $755k. Paid off the original home loan 500k + 10k closing cost. Using the rest 245k cash + 55k personal cash for:
1. Primary home renovation: 55k, project won't complete until May, 2022
2. Using 100k refinance cash for the downpayment of 2nd home (short term rental), and taking another loan for the balance, closing on 2/1/22
3. Using 145k refinance cash purchase another rental property, closing on 3/1/22
How can I file my interest deductible for 2021 tax and 2022 tax?  Item 2,3 distribute from the same personal account that 245k was in, while 55k comes from another personal account.
Can I deducted interested related to 245k cash out which secured by primary home for investment interest? Or I should allocate 55K for renovation and rest 190k for investment? 
For interest related to primary residence, the loan amount is 500K+10K closing cost or just 500K?

It seems too complicated and I can't get my head around it. I would love to hear some of the suggestion.

Thank you!

HI Bruce,

Thank you very much for your detail advice. I will continue make several phone calls to structural engineer and foundation repair company, so I have 3 to compare with. And I will try to fix anything might cause the problem based on the structural engineer or repair company's evaluation.

Thanks for the warranty and drainage, plumber advice! I haven't thought about that, it is a good call~!

If you have some good experience working with one of the professionals (structural engineer, repair company, plumber or contractor), could do you refer them to me? I am sure I will have to work with them to pull this off. Very appreciated!

HI BP Family,

I am new to TX area, recently purchased a property in the south of Dallas, TX, and the property needs foundation work and some repair. It is my first time to deal with foundation issue. And I have searched in BP forum, couldn't find the answer. So I would like to post here, hope someone can share the light with me. Thanks! Here are my questions:
Do I need to hire structure engineer to get the assessment and recommendation what need to be done, or should I directly go to the foundation repair company?  Is repair company has enough knowledge to solve the problem, or it is worth to pay for the structure engineer to make sure the work will be done right .( I got quote from Cross Town Engineer for $720). Do all repair work needs to sign by the engineer after? Do I need to file permit or paper work to the city etc? Can anyone refer a good, reliable foundation repair company and structure engineer to work with?And how many years warranty do they offer most time?
Thank you!

Thanks for sharing!