All Forum Posts by: Gary Kline

www.greatschools.org has good info about schools. This is the site Zillow links to. 

@Bill S. and @Dan Mackin,

Thanks for responding. I thought there must be something different about them because the price was so cheap. It looks like they might still have an attractive cash flow as a rental, so maybe the lack of appreciation wouldn't be a big factor. But if banks won't lend on manufactured then it might not be so attractive.

I have noticed an area where the houses are manufactured but the lots are 5000-6000 sq ft, the same size as typical lot in the Denver suburb. These lots are owned by the homeowners. So what category would these fit in for comparison purposes? Does the fact that they are manufactured double-wides make their value low like a mobile home or does that matter since they are on their own normal sized lots? Many of the homes have attached carports. The recent sales prices look attractive but I am wondering about long term appreciation potential. 

I meant costs such as title insurance, surveys, appraisals. I had many of these since there were 3 different loans: lot loan, construction loan, regular loan. If they have to be depreciated over the life of the loan, which loan? I have since refinanced the property several times as interest rates went down. So the current loan will be paid off 27 years from now, or about 28 years after I put the property in service as a rental. 

Thanks for the input everyone.

I bought a lot in Colorado Springs, CO in 1998, had a house built on it in 2000, lived there until 2005 then moved away. Relatives lived there paying below market or no rent until 2014. I rented it out at fair market rate in 2015. Now that I'm working on my 2015 taxes I need to figure out the depreciation. I've been doing some reading since I didn't know much about accounting or tax laws regarding rental real estate and wanted to see if I have it right as far as determining the basis for the property for depreciation purposes. I understand that the land value is not depreciable but is part of the basis. Are closing costs for the lot loan depreciated over 27.5 yrs? What about the construction loan closing costs? I also had to get regular loan before moving in, so can I depreciate the closing costs of all 3 loans over 27.5 yrs?

I had to do some repair work before renting it out. This was done and paid for in 2014 so I don't think I can claim it as a startup cost. But can I add these costs to the basis? The market value is higher than the actual cost.

I added central A/C in 2015 soon after I put the house on the rental market but before it rented. The cost was $2991. Turbo Tax put half the cost as depreciated over 5 yrs and gave me an expense deduction for 2015 of half the cost. Is this right? Could I use one of the safe harbor provisions to make the full cost an expense for 2015? What about section 179? I am claiming active participation. 

I would like to get your opinions about how to handle this.

I probably need to see a CPA for some of this. This is the only rental property I have. What do you think would be a reasonable charge for doing my schedule E? Can you recommend a CPA in the Denver, CO area? 

Thank you for your help.

Gary