All Forum Posts by: Steve Vaughan

First deal was a little trailer in a family park.  Whoa that was a long time ago!  Bought for cash, sold on paper.  Did 2 of those and learned a ton!  Those were good starting points for us, as it's as easy as buying a car.  We then owner-occ'd a couple houses we turned into long-term rentals.  Then straight to seller-financed 7-unit and 10-unit buildings.  Apt building owners are familiar with creative strategies and the competition to buy them is less!  Good luck!

That's awesome @Michael Westberry !  Go get 'em.  How many pieces did you mail to get the 20 responses?  Did you target absentee owners?  Equity %?  Please share a little!  Thanks!

#askbp   How do seasoned investors who want to divest/reduce some holding best go about that?  Is the market frothy?  So many are having a hard time finding good deals, what if you already have a bunch?  Time to sell and how?  Thanks!

I reviewed a previous post and saw there may be an AGI limit of $150k to be able to depreciate.  I didn't know that.  Better talk to a tax person, which I am not.  I would run a what-if analyses if I was close to that threshold.  Depreciation reduces your AGI.  The $40k+ I depreciate annually reduces my AGI below the $150k.  If you are close, it may be just what you need!

Sure @Brendan Prendergast .  I'm not a CPA, but with rental property you can 'depreciate' the rental property over 27.5 years.  The building only.  Say for instance you buy a rental property for $300,000.  County records show the land value is $25,000.  You will depreciate $10,000 per year for 27.5 years.  The $10,000 is not affected by the rising fair market value of the property at all.  You deduct $10k against normal income for tax purposes.  There are probably other variations on the depreciation method, but the easiest way I have found is dividing the improved value by 27.5.  When you sell, you 're-capture' the depreciation amounts you have taken over the years, reducing your cost-basis for tax purposes.  By then you can 1031 exchange or it will be a long-term cap gain.  Hope that helps!  

I have buy and hold rentals with depreciation deductions coming out my ears. Where were they when I had a normal w-2 career?   Can't think of a better vehicle for tax advantages than holding rentals!  

I just signed up with Lead Propeller and like it.  Even for being completely non-tech savvy I think it turned out well and was easy to customize and publish. (I established suddenseller.com) With a bunch of work I think I could beat the $49/mo, but that's the key.  The bunch of work (and frustration) part. I have it set  up to draft directly from one of my business accounts and don't have to worry about paying this co $12/mo and that co $3/mo, etc.  I will update in 6 months with hard numbers whether it is paying off or not!  Great discussion.    

Yeah, I'm sure he uses a Wyoming LLC. You're welcome, by the way.

Nice video @Nicholas Miller . My 9 year old just walked in and said "you're not gonna buy that house, too, are you dad?!"  Ha.  That was you in the video, right?  I agree with what @Ned Carey said, minus it not being a scam because a scammer wouldn't show his face in (his own) video! Maybe the squatter is posing as the owner?  Pls share what they say when you ask if they are wholesaling it!  

Welcome @Thanh Nguyen !  I am in central WA, but WA nonetheless and would like to welcome you!  Like @Steve K. points out, King county is a tough one.  Only county in the state requiring us to show cause to terminate a month to month agreement.  Ugh!  Hey, if you are interested in the sunny side of the state (sorry, coasters!) I can get the numbers you are looking for, but in older properties that are a little larger unit-wise (7-10 units). 1% per month gross, with vacancy less than 3%.   Is residential financing the reason for seeking a quad or less?  Just curious.  Good luck either way!