All Forum Posts by: Zak Klobucar

I recently purchased a house in Woodstock, IL, that is in need of some minor work (repair exterior 2 story wood stair, replace dryer gas line, replace old window casements, etc.).  If anyone is available in this area, please reach out to me and I can provide more information.  Any credentials or photos of past projects would be great as well.  I am looking to begin the work in April 2018, next month...thanks.

Got it...I believe I was mixing up the different kinds of tax deductions. Basically taxes and interest on mortgage is deductible similar to a primary residence, but all expenses used during the year, like HOAs, repair costs, depreciation, travel, etc. will be used in determining your gains or losses for the year when applied to your NOI.

This seems more accurate, correct?  

Thank you so much for the quick feedback, this helps a lot to get my head around how the taxes work to a person's advantage in real estate.  

Just wanted to get some general information on tax deductions...nothing in depth, want to make sure I'm not completely off with my analysis. When buying a property, there are a lot of items that can be deducted at tax time, like property taxes, HOAs, utilities (if you pay them), mortgage interest, and depreciation (based on 27.5 years). If my income puts me in the 28% tax bracket, and those deductible items listed above come out to $10,000 (easy number for math purposes), would I be able to collect an additional $2,800 from the IRS...and would it be smart to include this in your cash on cash ROI calculations for the year? Like I said...I know it's WAY more complicated than this, but I wanted a general idea if I was on the right track. Also, if there are any accountants that specialize in income properties in the 60067 area, I would definitely like to take you out for a lunch (and pay for your time) to get any additional information I could to better understand this. Thanks so much everyone!

Excellent advice Jessica, thank you so much for your input!  This helps a lot and puts me on the right track...you're a rockstar!

Thanks Jessica!  I am very familiar with special assessments...as I used to live in a 3 flat with low reserves (Back when I was younger and didn't know to ask about things like this).  This is definitely something I would bring up with the board before moving forward with an offer.

Any thoughts on what a good reserve number would be?  I know this will differ based on a lot of site specific aspects (Age, units, location, etc.) but if you have any good rules of thumb that would be awesome.  Thank you again, this is exactly the answer I was looking for...

Just wondering if people are typically holding additional money for large Capital Expenditures when purchasing a rental property in a high rise. I have money put aside in my calculations for repairs and maintenance (typically 10%), but for a SFH, I also keep an additional 10% for CapEx. If I'm paying an HOA (usually in the $250-$300 a month range), would this cover the bigger ticket items that occur outside the interior perimeter wall of the residence?

I'm assuming the 10% repairs and maintenance would suffice, as the HOA would replace the CapEx...correct? Or am I forgetting something that could bite me later down the road?

Thanks very much everyone!!!

Thank you again for all of the great information everyone...this will really help moving forward!  Great to hear that the NW Suburb area is doing well for you Kenneth!  Podcast 169 basically answered all of the questions I initially had, great call Brendan!

Wow, thanks so much for all of the amazingly fast advice Latrice, Jeff, and Brendan!  Glad to hear I'm on the right track...excellent points on just reaching out to people in the area.  Given all the help I've gotten in the first few minutes of posting, it's great to see that people are very open to sharing their knowledge!

Also, Jeff, thanks for pointing my profile out...I have never been to Sydney in my life :). I was born and raised in Northwest Indiana, currently living in Palatine (Just northwest of O'Hare).  Maybe that was some default profile info?  Either way, all changed and updated now, thanks!

Hi everyone, I am just getting started in the real estate game (Living in the northwest suburbs of Chicago), and have been reading and listening to the BP site for a few months now.  You are all great, thank you so much for all of your combined knowledge and thoughtful comments here!  

I am looking to start my venture into investing with either a small multi family (duplex of triplex), or a SFR, with the hopes of buying and holding for passive rental income. What I would like to know is where everyone gets their information regarding rental data for specific areas. I have been on www.city-data.com, and looked at sites like rent-o-meter.com and rent.com to see if there is a general interest in renting in particular places, along with just driving around to get a feel for certain areas...I guess I am just nervous to purchase a home, only to have it sit vacant for several months.  

I would like to do all of my due diligence prior to taking the plunge, so if anyone has any tips or pointers, I would really appreciate it.  Thanks again!

Zak