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All Forum Posts by: Jon Martin

Jon Martin has started 36 posts and replied 1081 times.

Depends on how much income you are trying to offset. Nothing wrong with using the deduction on 2 properties, but as you get closer to zero income you are offsetting at a lower marginal rate and is therefore less of a benefit.  That said, still worth exploring, but understand that there is diminishing returns as you offset more income and get closer to $0. 

If you do not think you will launch a new property the following tax year, or if it takes your current tax bill below $0, then better to wait until next year. Another option is to depreciate but not do bonus depreciation on one of the properties, that way you take a smaller loss for year 1 but have a greater amount to offset for depreciate in each tax year for the life of the property. 

As for 100% Bonus Depreciation, nobody knows unless you have direct access to hundreds of congress people. 

Disclaimer: Not a CPA or tax professional. 

How would pet fees be reflected in the daily rate if not everyone is bringing a pet?

Worrying about a handyman and cleaner is putting the cart before the horse. Whatever place you buy will likely need at least some minor repairs, so whoever you use for that can hopefully help as a handyman once you are up and running. 

Then you will have several square yards of boxes of linens, towels, kitchen utensils, flatware etc that will need to go through the wash and be put away. Same concept above would apply to your cleaners. Look for some cleaners on Turno to help with that set up and get a feel for if they are a good fit. 

Once you think you are ready to go, stay in the place for a few nights (as noted above) and make a list of what needs fine tuning. By doing so you will be well ahead of the competition. 

Still possible to get 2016-2020 numbers you buy right. Although in most cases it needs to be a combination of buying an inexpensive property in an area that is experiencing a boom in tourism, whereas mature tourist markets already have that long term popularity and stability priced in. Plus the expectations for good design and amenities is much higher than it was pre-pandemic. 

If you can exceed the 15-20% mark of revenue to purchase price then the numbers really start to get spicy because it is all profit after that point. 

Make sure your tax form is up to date. I just fixed that on my account. 

FYI this thread was started 8 years ago, so doubt too many who posted here already are paying attention. 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

I dunno @Mike Francis, this has come up before and I still think that you aren't going to get a ton of traffic from being on there. Especially for the cost.


Agreed! Too many STR owners are trying to reinvent the wheel and put the cart before the horse. You would probably have to spend a ton of money and effort to get half of the leads that an OTA would provide.

I think your challenge is expecting them to have "knowledge of local markets". You don't hire a VA to think for you and read your mind, you hire them to immediately answer the phone/email/message and execute on a SOP and hopefully resolve the problem, which @Andrew Steffens touched on above. 

If a VA can take care of after hours inquiries and solve 90% of the problems without you being bothered, I'd say that's worth it. A call center service could also help with this, because you typically pay VAs by the hour with a fixed number of hours where you have to keep them busy, whereas a call center charges you by the minute as needed with a lower monthly minimum. Combined with automation for basic stuff (lockouts, parking, WIFI) like @John Underwood said this would greatly cut down on your headaches. 

Quote from @Michael Baum:

In our area, there are quite a few countertop companies that close out stuff or have extra material. If you aren't too picky, you can get a great deal. 


 Good point, with that amount of counter space he could almost certainly piece it together with some remnants. 

As stated above there are lots of issues. They often take a hefty management fee (upwards of half+), and when combined with an ever increasing HOA and all the other normal expenses it can really be tough to pencil out.

Plus they tend to have have weird rules about how guests can access which amenities and services. Would make for awkward conversations and complaints if your guests are excited to use the nice pool and get denied. 

Quote from @John Underwood:

Don't put Butcher block into any rental!

I have heard horror stories of people using these as a cutting board and damaging them. Not worth the risk.

 I thought that was the whole point? That said I agree, I much prefer granite or quartz. 

@Kenzer Hodgson for $1500 I would replace them but go with granite. Should be relatively cheap with that much counter space. Would be worth springing for a backsplash as well, another relatively inexpensive upgrade that really adds character and pops in photos.