All Forum Posts by: Randy Dubiskas

Also, what about the retiree that books an ADU or casita out to make some extra coin, then loses property tax benefits afforded to seniors?

Maybe, and I don’t have a lot of experience with property taxes on commercial but the basis is different. Homeowners are taxed based on market value and recent sales. Commercial same?

I was on a zoom call with Carl Vidal, an Albuquerque realtor and STR management firm owner about this idea that has been floated. The idea is that counties will identify a residential property as a short term rental and change the status to commercial and remove any residential caps on property tax. As told by Carl, it seems to be an idea by a group of county assessors, but not necessarily state-wide. It seems that no legislation is needed to implement this? The largest county (population) is Bernalillo - this is where Albuquerque is located. Have others seen changes like this in different areas?

I have not received such a request, but I think your thoughts sound correct to me.  I too own/manage one property and do not feel it's worth the effort to develop a direct booking site for one property.

Working up to listing my property in January 2022, I was offered access to an experienced host on Airbnb from the area where my house is located - at no cost to me.  I believe the platform paid the mentor a nominal fee for being available and answering questions.  I could ask specific questions online and that blossomed into a mentor / mentee relationship.  I will say it worked very well from my experience and I think my mentor enjoyed the journey as well.  I found my cleaner through him and various other questions were answered.  I am not sure if this is still offered through the platform.

You should go to the City website and download the rules.  Don't rely on second-hand info.  Check it out yourself.

I have never asked for a 5 star review and have never received lower than 5 stars.  I suppose it will happen eventually, but after 50 bookings, so far so good.

We have an 8-inch reflector telescope that has intrigued visitors.

I am in same boat as you.  The rules are specific and you are not a real estate professional, so passive losses will not apply to your W2 income.  You would have to leave your high wage non-real estate job and do something in real estate to have investment losses offset W2 income.  You can carry the excess losses forward so that when you sell the property, it will be a lot less capital gains tax.

Here's an update: I have an exterior door off the kitchen for our Out-of-state STR that is the preferred exit/entrance for the house. You may know that the camera activates with motion. The more activations, the quicker the battery runs down. So last trip out, I was smug about installing a solar charger for this camera. You can purchase a solar charger or a direct cable to plug into an outdoor electrical outlet. I chose the solar power option. It wasn't very expensive. Part of the instructions for this power adapter require the rechargeable battery to be fully charged before connecting the solar unit. I did this. However, after about a month of pretty heavy usage, I noticed the battery running down. What gives? I called the SimpliSafe Tech helpline and they told me that the battery has to be fully charged using a 3rd party, 1.5 amp adapter not provided with the unit. I did not know this at the time of installation - it was not in the instructions. Now the camera is offline awaiting my next trip out to accomplish the full charge with the adapter that I bought off Amazon. I still like the system, but this was a disappointment.