All Forum Posts by: Ellie Narie

I'm thinking of hosting on airbnb, but I heard that it is self-employment income.

If you have a rental and set up an S-corp that will take 100% of the profits from the rental (can you do this to begin with? to avoid self-employment tax), and the S-corp's income will pass over to you, can you still deduct the depreciation of your rental? You own the rental in your name, NOT in the S-corp, and you have the mortgage of the rental in your name. 

 I'll have the tenants split the bill, so that they all still try to save on utilities (if I just charge them a flat rate, I'm afraid they'll overuse the utilities and not try to save). But they won't have separate meters.

I'd like to build a duplex with by-the-room heating and cooling. It will have a total of 9 bedrooms, which will all be heated and cooled by the room (4 bedrooms in one unit, 5 bedrooms in another). They will all be small, 100 sq ft bedrooms, and the whole building will be no more than 2,000 square feet total, which means that living room and kitchen will also be on the smaller side. Since it will need a by-the-room heating and cooling, what are some suggestions as to how to approach this? I will live in one side of the duplex (the 4 bedroom side), and I will put tenants in the other side, it will be rented out by the room, so 5 rooms will be rented out to different tenants. I want by-the-room heating and cooling in both units, as I want my family to be able to choose their room temperatures individually as well. So, each of the 9 bedrooms needs to be able to choose its own temperature, and each kitchen/living area can be counted as one area in terms of temperature control. So I would think a total of 11 mini splits should do it, and I would be buying cheap ones for $200-$300 each online. 

What are some strategies to approach this kind of construction project, so that each room is heated and cooled individually, without having too big of an energy bill? Should I get solar panels, and if so, how big of a solar system do I need for this kind of project? Or should I just stick with gas appliances? And in that case, how can I make by-the-room heating and cooling possible? 

So I guess my biggest concern is, how do I make by-the-room heating and cooling possible with 11 different zones without spending too much on an energy bill and without spending too much as an upfront cost? Is there a middle ground somewhere?

Also, what are some approaches to water heating? Should I get a tankless system? And if so, wouldn't that use up quite a lot of energy? 

Can they be pretty much the same as paying rent? Something like, 0 down, and $1800 for 3 years, and then a a balloon payment? I want to find a property with owner-carry terms so that I can put it up on airbnb. Then, once I have a year or two of airbnb income, I could refinance into something more permanent. 

Let's say you want to rent out a part of your house, say, your basement or attic. But you can't legally put another kitchen there. What's the closest thing you can do to make an "almost kitchen" in your basement? Can you put a half size 120V commercial convection oven in your basement, or would that break some kind of rule? Whay kind of ventillation and fans (hood?) would you need to install to make sure it can get aired out in case something burns?

 Yep, girlfriend would actually get paid and get official W2s. How should this couple phrase their situation to the mortgage lenders?Should the girlfriend just say that she will be working for someone who hasn't been in business for very long?

I'm not sure where the problem would be if the girlfriend keeps earning a high income indefinitely.  

 It's not the interest rate that they care about, it's the downpayment. And it's not like they'd get taxed twice, they still have to pay income taxes on that money anyway whether he earns it or whether the girlfriend earns. 

If the girlfriend plans to keep her income high, it would be fine then, right? As long as she plans to keep her job working for the boyfriend and plans to keep her income high.