All Forum Posts by: Renjie Song

Hi all,

Like many small landlords, I am trying to take advantage of cost segregation to increase my depreciation and further reduce tax liability.

However, a full-engineering approach is quite costly (easily over $3-4K per study for a small building). I have found some cheaper alternatives like KBKG and DIYcostseg online that still cost between $400 and $500, not including audit defense. They are taking a pure estimate approach with a survey and don't even ask very detailed questions (such as what appliances you have in the building). They do offer full engineering if IRS-audited.

I am thinking of creating an app that will charge significantly less (40% - 50% less) than the two sites above, with a potentially more detailed survey. The cost of the items in the building could be based on either a national cost database or an AI/machine learning prediction. The final report could be PDF, an excel file or presented in an online dashboard. The user can pay extra for audit defense (similar to premium service offered by KBKG and DIYcostseg) and we can back it up with a full-engineering study from an actual cost seg company.

The app will have a portal for each landlord, and each property will have its own dashboard similar to Stessa. The user will also have a subscription option. This would be good for long-term tracking in case they need to replace, repair or retire certain property. This functionality will make your life (and your accountant's life) a lot easier during tax prep time.

Down the road, the app will offer integration with accounting or PM software.

I want to see if people have any interest in using such an app, and what other features or problems you can think of. Any feedback is welcomed!

Renjie

@Williman Glass, based on William's profile you can find the app here: offerautomation.com.

@Twana Rasoul Thanks for the input!

The three sites I can find online, titanecho, kbkg, diycostseg, that do cost segregation, each costing between $400 and $500. For a smaller rental property (let's say sub $250K), the potential savings can hardly justify the fee if you decide to sell a few years down because any personal property you depreciated will be recaptured at income tax rate, and only the 15-year real property could potentially take advantage of the 25% arbitrage assuming you are at a higher tax bracket. 

Also those sites, at least kbkg and diycostseg, don't really ask you very detailed questions like what appliance you have in each unit assuming you have a small multifamily. 

They also don't offer a tracking system, in case you need to replace or retire some of the assets. 

I am just trying to gather general interests from ppl to see if anyone would be interested in a cheaper alternative, with more detailed tracking capability. I am thinking something like a dashboard (Stessa.com) that you can do cost seg study and track each property by itself.

Hi everyone! 

Have you thought about using cost segregation to maximize your tax savings?

Have you looked into cost segregation services but found out they cost too much? 

I am in the same boat. To make my life easier, I am planning to build an app to simplify cost segregation for small property owners just like us. It will facilitate the cost segregation process upon purchase, track depreciation, as well as replacement/write offs.

Wanted to gather some feedback and find out the following:

- Would you be interested in using such a tool? Or are you using one already? 

- What are some features you want to see?

- How much would you pay for such a service? 

I plan to roll out a free prototype version of the tool first. Let me know if you'd be interested in helping me test it out, while potentially saving money on your taxes this year!

Renjie

Hello fellow Austin investor! I recently moved from Chicago to Austin.

Have been an investor in the Midwest for the past 2 years.

Looking to have a better understanding of the Austin market, from what I can tell, Austin is more an appreciation play than cash flow due to low rent to price ratio and higher taxes.

Particularly, I am interested in the challenges we are facing in local market lead generation. (couldn't find deals that work) Anything listed on the market is over-priced and you end up in bidding war.

How does lead generation works for you guys here. what kind of improvement you want to see? I have some background in data science and want to leverage analytics to identify undervalued properties or motivated sellers. potentially sharing some research results

Also, any suggestions on good local investor meet up for Austin. would love to meet ppl in person

Would love to join next lunch meet up as well. Please loop me in. Thanks!