All Forum Posts by: Karen Yager

On my leases that cover utilities, here is what I include in the lease:

UTILITIES: Landlord pays for water, sewer, gas, garbage, recycling, and electricity.

Wireless/basic TV and Internet hook-up is available. Tenants are responsible for their monthly fee.

I usually collect first/last/security at signing. Security is usually $400/bedroom.

I'm a Realtor who stages the houses that I list.
I had a vacation rental for 5 years. It's hard work.

Comments about your house:
It's a beautiful home. Pictures:
#1 It shows 2 houses, the driveway and the garbage can. Not an inviting, attractive first picture. Try to avoid showing all surrounding homes. You are not selling the driveway. Show what you want to sell (rent).
#4 The kitchen towels are messy. Every detail matters.
#29 The foosball table is blurry, Not good.
#31 Set all tables so they look inviting

Rent it for 2-3 days. Most people don't want to be obligated to a min of 5 days.
Check out your competition. See what they are doing to attract guests.
Get more positive comments.

Good luck!

I've been a Realtor for 17 years, paying huge taxes on my earnings the last few years. 3 years ago, I set up an LLC with an attorney. My CPA, which I finally hired 3 years ago, set up paying me a monthly salary, which means that I only pay taxes on the W2 income and very little on the rest of the earnings. He has saved me thousands of $$ in taxes. I had been paying up to $50k in taxes, so I'm relieved to find a solution.

Congratulations! The test isn't easy, and you made it this far. I would recommend contacting BuffiniAndCompany.com and signing up for their 100 Days to Greatness. It is a comprehensive program with coaches that can help you get going in the right direction. It is referral based so they will have you start by making a list of 100 people that you know. They will guide you all the way to selling millions of dollars of real estate. It works if you work it! I did! I would also recommend interviewing companies that offer training. Once you know what to do, you will be able to affiliate with a company that gives you 100% of your commission, like KellyRight.com (they are not in NY yet). With KR, I pay $79/month and $189/transaction. It's easy to make a lot of money when you're not giving 30-40% away to your brokerage. Good luck. You can do it!

The first SFR I bought in 2011 was with my self-directed Roth IRA. I still own it and the renters paid if off in 8 yrs. All income is tax free forever. Here's part of an article I wrote for the local newspaper that explains the rules:

Diversifying your retirement account with real estate has become a good hedge against the cyclical changes in the stock market, economy and bank and government-based investments.
“... (R)eal estate investments hold the potential to protect against the loss of principal while
generating better than market-rate returns through income production and capital gains,” writes
“Leverage Your IRA” author Matt Allen. And, he adds, both income and capital gains can flow
back to IRAs as tax-deferred or tax-free, in the case of a Roth IRA.
If you have an IRA, all you have to do is roll it into a self-directed IRA. Employees who
leave a company that sponsored a 401(k) plan can roll their money into a self-directed IRA, too.
A self-directed IRA allows the owners to move their own investments into just about anything
“within” the IRA, not “cashed out.” For example, you can invest in real estate in any state or
country, raw land, rental and commercial properties, condos, mobile homes, boat slips,
machinery, livestock, start a new business, buy mortgage notes, loan money earning interest, tax
liens and tax deeds, joint ventures, LLCs, mortgages, franchises, and more.
All of these have to be handled strictly as investments through a company that specializes in
self-directed IRAs and cannot be used personally, which means that anything bought with your
IRA is owned by your IRA, not by you personally. You also cannot loan money to or be in a
transaction with a parent or child, but you can be with a sibling or other friend or relative.
There are only three items that the IRS prohibits owners of self-directed IRAs from investing
in: collectibles (stamps, coins, art, antiques, gems, and metals), insurance contracts and
investments in shares of an S corporation. IRS defines S corporations as those “that elect to pass
corporate income, losses, deductions and credit through to their shareholders for federal tax
purposes."
Congress created IRA arrangements in 1974 that allowed owners to self-direct “nontraditional” assets. In traditional IRAs, taxes are deferred until the money is taken out of the account at retirement. In contrast, Roth IRAs, which were created in 1998, allow the owner to pay the taxes in the year the account is opened, then grow the account tax free for the life of the account as long as it has been open at least five years. In 2001, 401(k)s were created for self-employed individuals; Roth 401(k)s were added in 2006.
 

So if you have a Roth IRA or 401(k), read "Leverage Your IRA" for a great understanding of what you can do with those non-performing funds. In 2011 when I used my Roth IRA, no one locally knew what to do, so the book guided me to success.

Here is the detailed ES letter I got yesterday from a tenant. I consider this to be legitimate from a local counselor:

My name is ______, LIACSW, and I am a mental health counselor with a masters in clinical social work. I have 2 years of experience as a counselor, and have been working with _________, hereinafter mentioned as ____, since May of 2021. I am writing to endorse _________ (Client DOB: 11/28/2000) use of their emotional support animal in their home and in travel. _____ is receiving counseling services for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Depressed Mood at this time and their emotional support animal would be of great assistance in increasing their functioning. The assessment measures used were in line with present standards of practice, and were an in person mental health assessment and screening for functioning. I am intimately familiar with their history and with the functional limitations imposed by their mental health. Due to their mental health symptoms, ________ has certain limitations related to emotional regulation which impacts their concentration and capacity for engaging in activities of daily living. In order to help alleviate these difficulties and to enhance their functioning, I recommend ___________ to have their emotional support animal in their home and in other appropriate locations. The presence of their dog mitigates the symptoms they are currently experiencing. At this time, _________ experiences difficulties with feeling nervous, anxious, or on edge, not being able to stop or control worrying, worrying too much about different things, trouble relaxing, feeling afraid as if something awful might happen. concentration, low motivation, fatigue, becoming easily over-stimulated and overwhelmed, depressed mood, difficulty sleeping, anxiety and intrusive thoughts of hopelessness. ________ has utilized multiple forms of treatment intervention to manage their symptoms, and is presently attending regular therapy sessions. The presence of their emotional service animal throughout their daily routine will increase their sense of confidence and will serve as a way of increasing emotional regulation throughout their day, as the benefits of having service animals present have largely been substantiated in the scientific literature. ___________’s dog will provide a sense of continuity in their surroundings as further support during the present period of emotional upheaval. Their dog will help them to tolerate stress, regulate their emotions, and stay resilient during difficult times. As their dog serves to ameliorate their symptoms, they are part of their treatment and should be considered essential to their everyday functioning. If there are additional questions regarding the recommendation of an emotional service animal in ___________’s treatment, please do not hesitate to contact me.