All Forum Posts by: David O

If its a reasonable cost, I would expense it. If I bought a roofing nail gun to rehab the house I would expense it. In my prior accounting experience as long as you are consistent, the IRS is cool about it. Our general rule was anything under $600 did not have to be expensed. Over $600 and we expensed. This is one of those grey areas (as most of our complicated tax system is).

Either way you wouldn't have to worry about it unless you are audited and your chances of being audited are pretty slim.

Pretty normal in my experience. I have yet to find a wholesaler with a good deal. I'm still buying my properties off the MLS and getting good deals.

Am I too harsh? I never rent to tenants with any past landlord issues even if they claim it is not their fault. For example, I've had a few tenants apply on Trulia/Zillow stating that they are looking to move because of their current landlord. A few have stated the roof is leaking, bad conditions etc. I then look at FaceBook (best screening tool) and I see that they have posted photos in local FaceBook groups about it. The photos show that the house is pretty jacked up, but I only have one side to the story (the tenant). I have one who posted about how they are in court with the landlord and claim the landlord took them to court. This is an auto no for me. I don't even show them the house when I see this. My logic is that if the landlord took you to court or if you complain about your current landlord, chances are high it will happen again.

What are your thoughts on this?

 ^^^ This. Grading the soil around the foundation is key. I have had crawlspaces with serious water issues and grading the soil away and making sure downspouts are directing water away has fixed them all. 

I would try this and sealing the outside wall to see if that will fix the issue. If not you can try more aggressive fixes.

I paid $3,300 for furnace/air conditioner (excluding duct work).

I work for one of the largest lenders and we are currently at 4.625. Slightly more for an investment property.

Also I would say the actual credit score literally has no value to me. I don't care about the score at all. 

Thats not always true. Like I said above, my best tenant has a bad credit score. It depends on why the credit score is bad. 

Is it late medical bills or collections on medical? I would rent. Is it late student loan debt? I would rent.

The score doesn't mean anything to me, I am more concerned about the actual report. If the person is late on car bill/utility bills then yeah probably not a great candidate. 

Its a gamble. If it doesn't appraise right you are stuck with the CC debt. If it makes sense as a rental, rent it now. Why do you need to finish the basement?

Ahh yeah I agree with Patsy, I would go with allure vinyl as its very forgiving for uneven floors. I bought some last year during a Black Friday at Home Depot for a great price! It is a dark cherry and I put it in the kitchen, bathroom and all bedrooms. My kitchen floor was so unlevel it was crazy, but the vinyl worked great. I saw it a month or so ago when I was repairing something for a tenant and it seems to be holding up really well.