All Forum Posts by: Jen Hunt

I've lived in Ontario Canada, and Utah. I want to spend 6-12 months in a different city or town in the world throughout my retirement. I'm taking notes! Thanks for the suggestions folks. I highly recommend everyone visit the National/State parks in Utah and a road trip from Banff to Jasper and paddle board the FL keys. 

Investment Info:

Single-family residence buy & hold investment in Eagle Mountain.

Purchase price: $145,000
Cash invested: $30,000

Renovating my primary residence to rent it out.

What made you interested in investing in this type of deal?

It's a perfect property for rental income. Excellent neighborhood, great schools, affordable.

How did you find this deal and how did you negotiate it?

I built this home in 2001 and will cash flow immediately and have it paid off early.

How did you finance this deal?

Owner occupied loan.

How did you add value to the deal?

Renovation, time.

What was the outcome?

Soon to know

Did you work with any real estate professionals (agents, lenders, etc.) that you'd recommend to others?

I am an agent.

I prefer the townhome option over a single family house even though I hate paying for HOA fees and how unpredictable they can be and suddenly rise or have an assessment. HOWEVER, no yard maintenance or building maintenance and the insurance is paid along with other amenities.

My Question: Is the depreciation so much more substantial for a free standing single family home over a townhome that all that extra worry about sprinkler systems and exterior maintenance is worth it? 

Since land is excluded from the depreciation value anyway, if I pay 300k for a townhome with .3 acre lot vs 340k on a .15 acre lot, the schedule shouldn't matter too much or am I missing some key components?

Ok so the goal is tax breaks. I have a w2 job and Realtor income and I own my own house that I plan to stay in for at least another year before turning it into a rental. 

I can qualify on my own for an investment but then I pay 20% down. If I put a kid on my loan and he moves in to the property it becomes an owner occupied loan and I only need 5% down. 

Since he is paying rent to someone else, I figure why not have him and his friends rent rooms from my rental property? Plus I know it's cared for and I can access it freely and make improvements. It won't cash flow at all for a few years. But the downpayment will get me into the market, start my deductions, start appreciation etc. And my bank account will not notice even with a couple hundred in losses each month for a couple of years. 

The investment property that has tenants won't be worth as much for depreciation and my account will be mostly drained. I will only cash flow 200/month and I don't know the tenants. 

Option 1 allows me to buy again in 1 year with another owner occupied and only 5% down and I will have the cash to do so each year if I don't blow it all on a 20% down investment. 

after considering, I think it would be smartest to put less down and do it again in a year, and another a year after... obviously I will not cash flow on 2 properties but keeping 30k in the bank to cover the difference every month will last for years of losses which barring all craziness, the homes will appreciate, rents will increase and the mortgage will be paid down enough to eliminate PMI. And cash flow will begin.

My first investment, I am looking at 2 options.. I can co sign with my kid and he will be one of 3 renters in the condo, it won't cashflow but I can put just 15k down and hopefully the tax breaks will be worth the investment. Turn key in Utah doesn't cash flow.

Option 2, I found a property with a current lease in place for another year that I will have to put 44k down but it will cash flow 200/month and once the lease expires it will cash flow 350/month. 

Which is the preferred method? I don't think I can do both but I'm looking into it. THOUGHTS?

PS I'm a realtor so I can use the commissions toward lowering what I have to put down which helps and I didn't include that in the math yet.