All Forum Posts by: Warren Qi

 Hi @Jim Chung, I am living not far away little neck, nice meeting you here. Are you still owning rental properties in Kansas City, did you in the end find a good PM to manage your properties there?  I have a fourplex there, kinds of thinking whether I should change my current PM due to crazy turnover cost under their management.

 Hi @Amir Navabpour, thank you for sharing your experiences. Are you still using KC Home? If you are, how have been your experience since then? do you think they could always find competitive vendors for your maintenance, particularly the make ready project (compared to management fees, these are the biggest cost of a investor, and a key part to separate good PMs from bad PMs, in my opinion, this is the cost item that PM and owners have conflict of interests)? how about their effectiveness in placing good tenants? 

Hi @John Fairchild,

my fourplex is under my LLC registered in Delaware, not in MO. I am not a resident of KCMO (and actually never stepped a foot there). My fourplex is fully managed by a full-services local property manager, so I am 100% passive.

Business License department did confirm that I do NOT need a business license because my property is fully managed by a local property manager. Their website also said so clearly (even they initially said I need to, but corrected after I pointed out that their website said I do not need to). 

https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/finance/tax-home/tax-guide-for-rental-businesses#:~:text=A%20business%20license%20is%20required,license%20%2D%20not%20the%20property%20owner. (under Business License tab)

They said I need to pay the KCMO profit tax initially, however, after my telling them that I am not a resident, and my long term rental is fully managed by a property manager, therefore my LLC or myself is fully passive in this regard, now they (KCMO revenue department) become silent on whether I should pay KCMO profit tax. I think many staff in the revenue department are not clear on the tax law . I am not sure whoI could get the official answer from on whether I should file this tax or not. really a pain in the ***.

Greatly appreciate if someone in similar situation or have knowledge on this to shine some light on what might be the right approach to deal with this.

thanks

Warren
 

@Milton Chamberlain, in case you and your CPA dad could shine more light on my questions above. thanks very much!

Hi @John Fairchild, all other KCMO long term rental property owners here:

Do you eventually figure out the business license requirements or the need to pay KCMO city tax?

I am not a resident in Kansas City. I have a fourplex long term rental in Kansas City, MO that is fully managed by a local property manager. Therefore, I am 100% passive, not a resident there either.

I was asked by my property manager to apply for a business license, and business license department seems to incorrectly told me that I do need to apply for a business license. However, I believe I do not really need to according to the rules defined here:

https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/departments/finance/tax-home/...

(business license tab)

A business license is required in instances where the owner is active in the management of the rental property. If the owner employs a management company, then the management company is required to obtain the business license - not the property owner.

according to the tab (Profits Tax) on the same page above, I should NOT file form RD-108 either to pay KCMO city earnings tax, because I am a passive investor, and not actively involved in the management of my property.

The problem is that, I did submitted my business license application a few weeks ago (still in the process) before I checked the KCMO web side. Because of my business license, KCMO created a revenue account for me, and asked me to pay back KCMO city earnings tax for the past two years. 

I believe I was incorrectly asked to apply for a business license and also incorrectly asked to pay KCMO city tax.   I did pay MO state tax since owning the property. 

Any advice and experience you guys could share?

thanks very much!

Warren

Contractors are more than welcome to respond here, however, I do need to have capability to check your reviews and be able to collect good referrals. thanks!

Hello,

Could someone recommend a good water damage restoration contractor in Beaumont, TX?  the water mitigation process is already finished by an existing contractor, so I just need a new contractor who can pick up the post-mitigation floor restoration work.  My insurance has approved the claim and provided item by item estimates. My existing contractor was doing a last minute price gouging so I decided to terminate them and look for a new contractor who can finish the work on the budget approved by insurance. The contractor needs to have good experience dealing with insurance in case things go beyond budget and need to ask more from the insurance.

Thank you!

Warren

Hi @Zeke Tessmer , I guess you meant to ask me. I did talk with Voepel in the end. The owner is very nice and enthusiastic. I did see some owner complaints in google review for it, although some are many years ago. I terminated HomeRiver Group ( really cannot bear them any further) and decided to self-manage for now. I still have to deal with a few left over mess caused by HomeRiver, such as uncollected utility bills, one vacant unit to lease, etc. In this business, so hard to find a good PM. my success ratio has not been high unfortunately so I am getting more and more cautious and concerned to hire one, it could have been such a good win-win situation.

Thanks

Warren