All Forum Posts by: Travis C.

@Christopher Smith I most probably am! Haha

@Natalie Kolodij thank you! I just want to do it right obviously and I appreciate the thoughts. I hope my CPA doesn't say I need to send out 1099s to all the contractors I paid over $600 to in 2019 at this point!

@Christopher Smith yes, that situation is clearly compliant and easier to discern that it is passive since you've turned it over to a PM. I have no PM (self-manage) and it is not at all my primary income. Total grey area (but maybe not and I need a CPA).

@John Underwood yeah that's my thought pattern equally, but being that I'm not the CPA and TurboTax doesn't offer real guidance beyond the canned topics, I figured I'd bounce it off the discussion threads and get a CPA regardless. Have a nice weekend!

I probably need to quit doing my taxes on TurboTax and just get a CPA at this point, but I am a "mom and pop" single family home rental property investor with now 20 properties. I hold title currently to all my properties under my own name (many have conventionally financed mortgages) and I have a full-time day job at the bank. I do self-manage my properties and I dispatch trusted vendors as needed to make repairs etc. 

I've always checked the box in TurboTax saying that this is passive income, as I have always considered it to be just that (versus a full-time qualified business). I do have not issued 1099 MISC's to contractors either, as it had been my understanding that I needn't do that as a "passive investor." 

Any thoughts on my approach? Am I an actual business that needs to do things more formally at this point? Certainly don't want to cause myself tax issues, but I'm not claiming to be a qualified business seeking higher deductions either. 

Thoughts?

@Stephanie Olejownik I bought 5 of these properties this year. Got a 3.75% note on the last 2 for 30 years. Great program!

@Jason Watson listings.vrmco.com

@Gaston Chavarin I just closed 3 if these yesterday. 30 yr notes w/ 5% down @3.75% cant beat it

I got sidetracked from my options above which really were more focused on conventional mortgage analyses. I've been buying VA foreclosures through the VA Vendee program recently which are cash flow positive in my market with 5% down 30 year notes at 3.75%.

Going well and I'm up to 14 properties now.

@Brian Mackey @Brian Mackey sorry for the delayed response. I'm not on here too often. I just closed 3 Vendee properties yesterday. 30 year notes at 3.75% with 5% down. Each will cash flow about $150-200/ month for me and they are good homes requiring little to no rehab in a middle class area of San Antonio. There are tens of thousands of veterans in this area so there are unfortunately those cases where former residents may have had trouble making their obligations. There is a VA Funding Fee involved on top of all other closing costs and it is usually 2-3% of the sales price. I am fortunate (yet not really that fortunate to be when I think about it) because coincidentally I am a disabled vet so I am exempt from the fee...it saves me even more money. New American Funding is the lender who originates on behalf of the VA and they are based in CA. They have been easy to work with and they know my file now since I'm a repeat investor at this point.

You have to go to them and know what property you may want to make an offer on for Vendee financing and get their preapproval to move forward with a Vendee offer. The properties won't qualify if title is clouded because the VA hasn't cleared it all just yet.

It is a lesser known option by investors (VA Vendee Finance), as it is not heavily advertised, but it is an excellent program with very good terms. The only thing is that I'm sure some regions/cities have more supply of these than others. I jist happen to live in an area with a high proportion of VA Home loans in the market which means inevitably that there will be distressed sales ultimately.