All Forum Posts by: Tim Schroeder

I almost forgot a great trick I want to share. Anyone who has a Smart TV, Roku, AppleTV, etc probably knows that you have to activate most of the popular channels (History, NatGeo, PBS, FoxNews, HGTV, CBS/NBC/ABC/CNN/etc) using a cable provider account. One of my rentals has Spectrum Cable. Spectrum also provides a Roku app that, when you login with the Spectrum account credentials, gives you access to most of the good channels. And they let you can create a limited-access account that doesn't let people access your billing and service information, but does let them access all these channels. So, get Spectrum at one property, and use the limited-access credentials to provide all the other properties access to the good channels on Roku's, for free.

 No offense, but those aren't the channels people want to watch  :)

I just added one Roku to each of my STR's as a trial. If it goes well I will convert all TV's and dump cable and save $2500/year in cable bills! I provided Netflix (a separate account from my family account), Hulu Plus (super cheap) and Amazon Prime (PIN required).

My only issue is that people log out and then back into their own account then log out when they leave. So I plan to provide my account info so they can log back in. But, I am concerned that there is nothing to stop them from using those credentials at home, on their own Roku or phone or smart TV!  And Netflix only allows 4 simultaneous sessions per account. So I may have to change the password monthly or something.

Home theater vs. pool table is a toss-up, IMHO.

And that comment makes it better?

All interest is deductible. Everything you spend related to the property is deductible. If it's a big item like a roof, then it's a capital expenditure and it's handled differently and the deduction is taken over the course of a number of years (your accountant should explain that)

Yeah, sure. Buying a house doesn't generate a paper trail. And banks don't keep track of checks.

People sometimes go to prison for tax evasion. I recommend some soap-on-a-rope.

Don't you like roads, national defense, medicare, education, and social security?  :-)  

Jokes aside, tax is just another expense that comes out of profit. So make sure your profit is high enough to cover it, or look for an investment that is.

If your pre-tax profit is 10k, then you'll pay (for example), 2k in taxes so you made a profit of 8k. There is never a case in which you made a 10k profit and paid 10k in taxes. I think what you're doing is including your mortgage payments when calculating your "profit" which is incorrect. Calculate your profit excluding the principal payments. In your case you may find that number is negative.

If that's the case, sell it now while it's a seller's market and either look for something better-performing, or hold your cash until there is a market downturn.

 PLUS, you could use that extra money to fund another property :)