Having just spent the last 5 days touring Portugal its apparent this move that Clayton and his wife made has yet again been to their benefit at the cost of their investors.This is hardly any kind of hardship on them..

Is it to build up assets, is it to make additional income, is it to reduce your monthly housing spend and save more money, is it tax breaks/benefits? 

If you wait until it’s a rental, you might be able to depreciate the remodel costs over time, which could be a great tax benefit. 

There is no, or very little, current benefit - there is no cash flow.  

Benefits of Rate/Term refi:  No seasoning with any lenders to use the full new appraised value, no seasoning of the underlying first mortgage that is getting paid off, better rates vs a cash out refinance!

As you move up the scale to higher prices, you get more benefits/services.  

You’ll find more details on how these federal tax benefits work here."

Hi Katie, do the tax benefits apply to just Real Estate professionals or could it also apply to regular full-time W-2 employees?

Understand Proposition 13 for property tax benefits, local transfer taxes, and strict tenant and rent control laws.

If family lives in the main home and friends stay for free in the garage, the property remains a primary residence, but there’s no rental income or tax benefits.