All Forum Posts by: Travis T.

Cameron,

I appreciate your reply.  I wanted to make one thing clear, as one part of your response made me think I may not have been clear enough in my original post.

My goal is not to manage other people's rental properties.  I'm not currently interested in that.  While I would gladly perform maintenance on someone else's property, I only want to manage (as a landlord) my own properties.  I also don't necessarily care if THIS company is profitable, so long as it helps my rental investments be more profitable.

What I'm concerned about is mainly maximizing my tax deductions.  If I contracted out every bit of work on my rental properties, I could deduct all of those expenses (potentially).  I could also deduct the expenses for any improvements on the property (potentially).  I would also pay a great deal more for someone else to perform that work than it would cost for me to do it myself.

In order to do some of this work myself, it would require me to purchase equipment (i.e. trailer, lawn/snow removal equipment, etc.).  When purchasing this equipment, not only could it be used to perform work on my own properties, but also on properties owned by others.  This is where my thoughts of creating a company to "hold" (and deduct where applicable) these assets comes into play.

I've researched a bunch, but have not found exactly what I'm looking for.  I'm hoping someone can steer me down the right path.  If not, I'll keep digging.

I was hoping with the amount of experience on these forums, someone would be able to comment on whether this is a good approach or not.  I see benefits, but I am positive there are drawbacks that I am overlooking or not aware of.

Anyone?

I'm hoping to get some feedback on an idea I've been kicking around for some time.  I'm not a business major...

I'm nearing the end of one career, and will be transitioning in the next two years to a slightly different field.  I currently have one rental home in addition to my primary residence.  My long-term goal is to build a rental property portfolio that would provide enough passive income to live comfortably.

I am currently managing the one rental property myself, and want to continue to manage it and any other properties I purchase as a "part-time" job.  Included in the "management" of these properties is a good deal of skilled labor jobs (repairs, renovations, upkeep, etc.).  Eventually, when the cash flow from the rental properties is enough to replace my day job, I'd like to transition to managing my properties as my primary job.

I'm trying to test the waters to see if this makes sense from a business/tax perspective.  I also want to do this right from the get-go, instead of just winging it.  While setting up a company is not absolutely necessary to do maintenance on properties I own, it (along with the proper licensing) allows me to do work on homes I do not own.  While this would not be the primary purpose of the company, but would be an added benefit.

Does this sound reasonable?  Please talk me out of it if there is a reason I should not do this.  I will gladly elaborate on more details if that is helpful, but wanted to keep this first post from being a novel.

- Travis

Hi everyone!

My name is Travis, and I live in Northern Virginia.  My wife and I just purchased our second house in the area after living in our first house for 5 years.  We kept the first house, and are currently renting it.  My long-term plan is to find other properties to invest in over the next 10 years and eventually make property investing and management my full-time occupation.  My wife is a successful realtor in the area which I think will be a huge benefit to that plan.

I've been listening to the BP podcast for a while now trying to pickup as many tips as possible in addition to reading the forums.  Our transition from living in to renting our current rental property was pretty rushed and not nearly as well thought out as it should have been.  Luckily, we have not had any issues because of it but I want to put much more thought into the next round of tenants.  We are currently soliciting for new tenants and I'd love to hear any suggestions for a new-ish landlord.  The first of many things I'm trying to tackle is whether an online rent payment service is worth it, and if anyone has recommendations for one.  I'd love to hear pros and cons from other active landlords as well as real-world experience with the online collection companies.

Look forward to working with you in the future.

Travis T.