All Forum Posts by: Sandra Holt

I have 4 residential rentals and have my first commercial property under contract. The commercial property is a suite of 8 offices that I’ll move my law office in to and I’ll have 2 offices to rent out. I start my 45 day study period most likely next week. Are there any suggestions on what specifically I should inspect/look for during the study period? Thank for any and all advice.

Thanks @Joel Owens for the suggestion.  I'll take a look at rental software.com.  

@Jake Harris, I just sent you a message.  Thanks!

That is great advice @Jake Harris!   A couple weeks ago I tried to engage a financial analyst/CPA to do this type of calculation for me and he said it was too difficult for him. I would love it if I could find someone on BiggerPockets who could do this analysis and of course I would be willing to pay for it. Do you have any suggestions? 

Thank you very much @Joel Owens. I  Will definitely contact my accountant. 

@Account Closed,  I appreciate the explanation of having three ways to deduct expenses or to have tax advantages in buying versus renting. 

Thanks @Joel Owens for the insight.  The purchase price is $635,000 so unfortunately quite a bit more than your office condo but that's what our market calls for.  The condo fees alone are $1,400 (!) but it's a very nice building and the place is perfectly suited for a law office.   It's also a space where we can rent out the offices that we don't need right away to reduce our expenses.  When looking at the numbers, we'd pay $1,000 more in mortgage than our current rent but that doesn't take into account renting out the 3 offices we don't need.  Then we're about $1,400 less than our current rent.  

I'd love to use a residential (large) house for the same purpose, but we've tried that before and got "caught" by the county so it had to be moved to our residential rental portfolio.  I don't want to take that chance again especially since we'd have to buy a sizable house which would be difficult to rent out.  

Can someone chime in about the tax implications of renting v. buying? I've already set up an LLC holding company which will rent the space out to our office. My commercial realtor says that how it's done is that the LLC rents the property (at a slightly inflated rate) to the office which is an expense to the office (which is held in an S Corp.). Then the rent generated as profit to the LLC is mitigated by depreciation. I'd love for someone to give me more details on that.

For me, this is a no brainer to buy v. rent, but my husband is more conservative than I am and sees this as tying up our money that we could use elsewhere.  

@Damon Pendleton, Thanks for the response.  I plan to purchase in Howard County, MD and am open to Class A and B+ properties.  We just toured a B+ condo yesterday and both really liked it.  But, before we put in an offer, my husband wants to be sure that buying is better than renting as far long term growth and tax consequences.  The space we looked at is bigger than what we need so we'd be renting out 3 of the offices.  The space is about 3,000 sq.ft.

My husband and I own a law firm and pay way too much in rent so we are looking to buy something.  As much as I'd like to buy an entire building, in my area that would cost $10M+ so we're looking at office condos.  I want to buy something ASAP, but my husband still isn't convinced that buying will save us money over the long run.  Can someone lay out the pros and cons to buying vs. renting commercial property?   Thanks!

I am looking to switch accountants since mine made too many mistakes last year and doesn't know enough about deductions related to rentals.  I currently have 4 rentals and put an offer on a commercial property that is pending.  I also own a law office with 6 employees.  Can anyone recommend an accountant that they personally have worked with and know is a smart guy/woman who can not only give me tax advice throughout the year but also prepare my taxes?  I would like this person to be well versed in rental properties, both residential and commercial, and know the ins and outs of owning a business as it relates to lowering my tax burden.  Ideally, I'd like a few names so I can meet with them to compare rates/personality/etc. Thanks for any and all recommendations.

Thanks for the advice.  I have 2 single families in Baltimore County and 2 in Howard County where the cash flow is great and wanted to expand to multi families or even a small apartment building.  I still see a lot of growth opportunity in Baltimore County with single families but the neighborhoods are definitely no better than C class. I’d like to “upgrade” if possible, whether with single families or multi units,  so I’ll look at Pasadena. Thanks!  

I am at the beginning stages of buying a multi family in the Baltimore City or Baltimore County area. Can anyone give me advice on areas that are up-and-coming versus areas to definitely avoid? Thank you for any and all recommendations!