If your listing photos scream executive rental, their placement team may overlook it.

Bonus depreciation is just a special part of the US tax code.It allows you to take accelerated depreciation on portions of your property depending on when an asset is put into service.At the time of this writing, you can write off a huge portion (60% in 2024) of many qualified components that have a useful lifespan of 15 years or less.That means a certain percentage of things like landscaping, sidewalks, latches, appliances, fences, certain flooring, etc is depreciable in year 1.The bonus depreciation rate percentage changes yearly depending on the administration and the tax code.For years 2015 through 2017 first-year depreciation for all the items on a 15-year schedule or less was set to 50%.It was scheduled to go down to 40% in 2018 and 30% in 2019 and then 0% in 2020.But then Trump got elected, and he enacted the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.That moved the bonus depreciation percentage to 100% from 2017 to 2022.In 2023 it went down to 80% and it’s currently at 60%.Depending on who gets elected again, 100% may be back on the table.Only time will tell.We know that the US government wants to incentivize more development and ownership of RE.They want Americans to continue to build and maintain our physical world.That’s why real estate is one of the most tax-advantaged assets in the US.Depreciation and bonus depreciation for RE are very positive and will likely continue in the years ahead.

They have other nice benefits also such as not charging for appraisals if the deal doesn’t close, a great reputation amongst local listing agents with meeting deadlines/ great customer service/ getting the job done with no b.s. and they can often close in under 14 days. 

I’m Arizona licensed and while I’m not an attorney or CPA, I’ve got a pretty wide network of investor-savvy agents and property mangrs who I trust.. folks who actually roll up their sleeves and dive into the trenches.The right guidance can help you identify stable neighborhoods in Austin where job growth still hums along nicely, or link you up to off-market multifamily properties in San Antonio that don’t get splashed across public listings.

What I do is develop my own scope of work and then make my own estimate for each line item.

1) Research Zoning of similar property2) Do search with same zoning criteria with propertyradar or have title company give you a list.3) Possibly filter by satellite photos to eliminate undesirable topography.

And there is a laundry list of existing professionals in this space to replicate from. 

I could likely see many things from the TCJA being made permanent, mostly procedural items like the higher standard deduction and child tax credit (Plus eliminating exemptions).

I’m not from the US and currently live in Europe most of the time.I’ve found some apartments that could work well for my needs—I plan to rent them out on Airbnb and reserve a few nights for myself when I travel there for work.My question is: apart from the purchase price (I’ve seen listings on Zillow averaging around $150k in areas like downtown Dallas, Old East, and Plano), what other costs should I expect—both during the acquisition and in monthly payments?

And if you’re listing the house online, try platforms like LoopNet or local Facebook groups for real estate or community housing.Just make sure to do your homework and ask for references, check their track record, and make sure they’re following any local zoning or licensing rules.