All Forum Posts by: Tatyana Shevnina

@Matt Davis

I use excel for my rental and it works fine. Having a separate checking account for the rental helps with recordkeeping.

Looking at 

Schedule E categories can help not to overlook some expenses. If you use a tax preparer, they may ask for a breakdown of certain categories like repairs/improvements/supplies. They can also go over the different expense categories to be on the same page of what goes where. 

Congratulations on the first property!

@Julie Fullmer  - imputed interest is required by the IRS on no interest/below market interest loans. Here's a pretty good article.

@Daniel Dietz  I'll chime in with some general info, not tax advice.

Capital gains tax rate is determined based on taxable income. If your taxable income is over the cut-off for 0% rate, then the entire gain will be taxed at 15% or possibly 20%. The entire gain is taxed at one rate unlike with ordinary income where you progress through each bracket. 

Good to remember that not 100% of Social Security income will be taxable. Up to 85% (or less) of Social Security feeds into taxable income based on combined income formula.  Note: SSI is a common abbreviation for Supplemental Security Income which is different from Social Security benefits. I assumed you were talking about regular Social Security benefits.

ROTH withdrawals are tax-free (if requirements are met) so should not affect taxable income or capital gains rate.

Rental losses can potentially decrease taxable income if you can deduct them (income needs to be less than $100K/up to $25K of losses can be deducted). This can help decrease capital gains rate and the percentage of Social Security subject to tax. 

As you can see, all of these items (capital gains, Social Security, rental loss) have their own income requirements and formulas. You pull one and it may affect the other :)  Final answer will be based on actual figures and thresholds for the tax year.

I looked at BMRs in SF back in 2008. Different time - prices started to come down so I was able to buy market rate condo in 2009. What was helpful is that I went to BMR workshops and through the workshops got connected with a good loan officer. She connected me with a good RE agent. Also found out about non-profits that did free counseling for first-time home buyers. Otherwise, it’s weighing the pros and cons. One thing is that HOA fees are not BMR. I remember looking at a BMR unit in downtown SF with HOA fees starting at $600 :)

@John Moksnes   You will need to report the sale on the tax return, but if requirements are met, $200K will not be taxed.

That's the section 121 exclusion @Lauren Speidel mentioned above ---> (pasting from her post) You qualify for the 121 Exclusion if you have owned and lived in the property for at least a total of 24 months out of 60 months. The exclusion allows you to defer exclude $250,000 (single taxpayer) and $500,000 (for a married couple) from your gross income.  

I changed defer to exclude because deferral implies you may need to include in income or pay tax later, but with sec 121, there is no tax if you qualify and your gain does not exceed the limits.

I hired a property management co for my SF condo rental. It’s been 4 years and worked out well. Great tenants, peace of mind and small repairs taken care of without my involvement. Please PM if you’d like a reference. At the advice of Amit M. , I also joined SPOSFI. Their newsletter is a great resource for up-to-date SF-specific information. Good luck!

I work with Golden Gate Properties. They managed my condo rental in Sf for the last 4 years. Placed very good tenants.

Welcome to BP, @Jason Kaye!  It's a great place to learn and meet like-minded investors.

@Shane Pearlman's meet-up (along with many others throughout the Bay) just makes it all more real when you meet local investors you see online face-to-face and get some immediate feedback on ideas you have.

Good luck!

@Dave Foster  -- Thank you very much for your thorough response, Dave!

@Kenneth Reimer  Thanks for clarifying the tagging, Kenneth!

I thought you can't combine 121 and 1031 too, but apparently you can. Let's say I own the house 2 years as a principal residence, then I rent it out for two years and sell it. I can qualify for 121 and 1031 at the same time. Just need to have a loooot of capital gain to make it worth the 1031 logistics.