All Forum Posts by: Karl Kauper

Quote from @Eliott Elias:

Closing costs should be used as write offs, talk to your CPA. And if you don't have one, get one. 

To clarify, although I do own a few investment properties, my question is about my primary residence single-family, which I want to sell after just one year (so won’t be able to take advantage of the primary residence exclusion).

Hi - This is a very basic question. To calculate capital gains on the sale of a home, do I factor in the closing costs on both the purchase and the sale? I assume so but I want to be sure. So, assume that if I buy a property for $100k and sell it for $150k, if my purchase closing costs were $10k and my sale closing costs were also $10k, then my capital gains were $30k. Is that correct? Thanks!

Thanks, Ryan. It's a 12-unit MF with four machines total. I'm leaning toward buying instead of leasing because (1) I've heard of leasing companies skimming profits and I don't know how that could be prevented and (2) I'm already paying my PM to collect the coins from the machines I own (this service is covered by my existing PM agreement) so I'm not sure there's any additional value for me in paying the leasing company, unless I can pay my PM less, and I know I can't. The machines are expensive, so it's a fairly big up-front cost, but I'm starting to think it may be worth it over the long run.

Just curious if there's a consensus: Is it better to own or lease your laundry equipment in the Cleveland, Ohio area (or any area)? My PM is recommending we get rid of our coin-operated laundry machines and replace them with leased ones. The PM says they break down too often. The other option would be to buy new coin-operated machines, but I honestly haven't yet looked into what the cost would be for new machines. - Thanks. - Karl

I’ve had people advise me to add a water/sewer fee, but my PM says “people aren’t stupid, just raise the rent to cover the cost.”

Hi All — I’m an out-of-state investor and own a 12-unit MF in the Cleveland area. My building is not separately metered for water/sewer, so I pay those expenses. Does anyone know how common that is (for the owner to have to pay instead of the tenants)? Also, any opinions re: should I add an extra water/sewer fee to cover this cost or simply increase the rent? Btw - it’s cost prohibitive for me to separate the plumbing , so that’s not an option. Thanks! - Karl

Erik - Thanks!

Hi All -- I am renting out a single-family home in Ocean View, Delaware through VRBO, and I need a short-term lease. We are renting the house out for one-week periods. Any chance anyone can direct me to a suitable template? Thank you! -- Karl

To clarify, my building is 12 units (2 bed, 1 bath each). I'm not sure why the number of units should matter though. If it's a question of the owner having safe access to his/her own money, why should it matter how big/small the building is?

Per David Lindahl ("Multi-Family Millions"), multi-family property owners should insist to their PM's that they have full access and signing authority with respect to the property's operating account. This way, if there is ever a contentious dispute between the owner and the PM, the owner can remove his/her money from the account immediately. I'm curious to hear the opinions on this from the BP community and what your own experiences have been. Currently, I personally do not have full access or signing authority with respect to my own MF's operating account. I'm fairly certain that my PM would push back on this if I asked. In case the state matters, my property is in Ohio.