All Forum Posts by: Young Moon

Thanks Ben!

Can anyone recommend a good real estate transactions lawyer for a deal I am doing in Winchester, VA? I would need help converting an LOI for a multifamily purchase into a contract. Also, if someone knows a good settlement company and property manager in the area, I would love to know that too. Thanks everyone!

Actually 260k for a 3 br sfh in Nova is really cheap, so it means the place is probably in a rougher area.  I agree with other posters - this deal doesn't have enough meat, so I would pass. Although I havent seen it, given your description of needed repairs,it looks like repairs alone are going to run you 40k - 50k probably

Thanks for the replies all.  Looks like the upshot is that I cannot take this mileage on my 2016 tax return for miles traveled that year since I did not buy a new property last year (which I presumably could have used to add this mileage expense to my basis).  

Jamie's, I really like your clarification that the Schedule E is not a business, it is a passive activity.  I always think of my real estate investing activity as a business but I guess from a tax reporting perspective it is not.

Please ignore, this was a dupe

Scott - thanks for looking into it.  Very much appreciate any insight you may have.  

Lance - she said there is no place on my personal return to put mileage costs associated with trips I make to look at new properties (i.e., ones that I do not own) that I am interested in possibly purchasing.   I can do mileage associated with properties I already own. 

Seems like I should be able to expense this stuff, but maybe I have to set up an entity to do so.   Was hoping to avoid that because of the extra effort and expense associated with maintaining an entity. 

Hi everyone - I am in the midst of getting my taxes done and my accountant is telling me that because I do not have a separate legal entity to assign my mileage expenses for looking at new properties that I cannot claim those expenses. I have 10 properties that I own (7 in my name and 3 in the name of my IRA LLC). It may be possible to claim the mileage under one of my 7 personally owned properties, but that is not quite right, I think because those miles were accrued in connection with a property I do not own yet. Do i really need to have a separate entity to assign these expenses to?

Hi - does anyone have have good recommendations for contractors in the Winchester, Virginia area?  I am looking to purchase a 9 unit multi-family that needs pretty extensive work.  The property is in the historic district and has deteriorated over the years.  

Thanks very much,

Young

Patrick - I do not plan on adding on to the building or adding more apartments.  There may be some exterior work that makes it look nicer and a lot of interior work, but that's it.  Your advice is very helpful and encouraging, so thanks for your response.

Hi everyone - I am in the process of looking at a mixed use property (one commercial storefront and 8 residential units) on one lot and was wondering what the major pitfalls were in taking on a project like this.  I have done rehabs of individual residential properties (mostly carpets, paint, appliances, fixtures, etc.) and they were pretty straightforward, but I wanted to see if there were any issues that are different for these type of mixed use properties, especially relating to permitting, zoning, etc.  I have architectural drawings obtained by the current seller as well as a zoning determination letter saying there are no zoning violations at the property and it is considered in compliance with the Zoning Ordinance and the described uses are "permitted by right uses".  At this point, is it just a matter of hiring a contractor to pull the permits and getting the work done?  Any advice would be very much appreciated!