All Forum Posts by: James Harville

I can't tell you about the market details, but I am sure you will always find students to fill it.  Bryan/College Station the entire area is growing still.  Students can be flaky, but if I could offer one tip or advice - find students in a science degree that are in their junior year or higher.  This can easily come up in conversation.  If they fill your units, they probably wont leave until the lease is up... because frankly any science major at A&M, Texas Tech, or UT doesn't have time for anything else but school.

 Not married, single with a girlfriend.  I am ok with not being able to claim being a real estate professional.  I am interested initially in whether or not I could at the bare minimum write $25,000 of deductions FROM the rental property to my personal income.  Is that allowed?  Like mentioned, I'm a little iffy on how it works, but that was my assumption anyways thus far.  Thanks for writing me back.

Bump

Treat your rental as a BUSINESS and not a hobby. If you don't get paid, EVICT.

The place I rent from in my town I've been at for three years. I forgot to pay rent one month, on the 3rd day they had an eviction notice on my door. Did I take it personally? No.  It's a business.  From my perspective, they are doing it right.  Did I actually get evicted?  No.  But its hella scary getting a notice and says many words without you needing to do anything at all.

From the link you provided - just at first glance, I see a price and a few pictures.  Pictures literally mean everything.  When I go to your link, the pictures are what I will see first ever before I come and book a viewing.

You need professional, well lit, wide-pan pictures to really show off the place. Who is your photographer? You are showing a corner of the bedroom, not the whole bedroom. Only part of the kitchen?  It almost feels like you aren't serious about selling or renting it!

IF the property management company took those pictures, fire them, find another, either take your own professional pictures and send it to them to USE or make sure they utilize good ones.  Its a pretty house, standard interior though. Besides that, I'd recommend thinking of your market.  In Lubbock, Texas where I live... its all students and older folks.  Not a ton of middle class families like in Houston, Texas.   So if you are the latter - what appeals to a nice family versus some college students?

Hello everyone,

I am debating purchasing a single-family residence to rent out primarily for the tax deduction benefits.  If I receive a small cash flow of $600+/month, that is nice, but mainly I want to do it for tax deductions against my personal income so that I ultimately pay less in taxes and earn more throughout the year.

Assuming I have a single member LLC with the property under said LLC, when I go to do my taxes - TurboTax asks me "Let's See if You're a Real Estate Professional"

So of course I have a few questions:

1. Can an owner of one rental property under an LLC easily qualify as a Real Estate Professional while also working a full-time job? I am not looking to become a target for the IRS. I cannot guarantee 750 hours a year, nor am I sure how it's "counted", if I find tenants, run repairs, do billing, etc does that count enough? What if I use a property management company?

2.  If I cannot qualify as a real estate professional and instead am deemed "Passive", what implications does this have towards my ultimate goal of paying less taxes?  I've read many articles, but the majority of them are complicated.  If I am passive, does that mean I can deduct $25,000 worth of deductions towards my income and no more?  i.e if I make $75,000 a year + $5000 in rentals, then my total income is $80,000 and the most I can deduct towards my income is $25,000?  Am I reading that right?

Detailed replies are super appreciated.

Thanks!