All Forum Posts by: Wilson Churchill

I like ceramic tile. It can withstand a lot of abuse, especially pet stains. Cleaning is as simple as bleach and water or a pet odor remover like "Nature's Miracle".

From a purely financial/mathematical point of view, you should invest in real estate rather than pay off debt if the return on your investment is higher than the interest rate on your debt. Having said that, if you aren't able to sleep at night because of your debt, you may want to pay it off first. In any case, before making a real estate investment, make sure you have adequate cash reserves or credit available to cover any vacancies, repairs, or other unexpected expenses (emergency fund).

 Section 1031 only applies to property held for investment, not business property. You could use a 1031 exchange on a rental home, but not a flip.

If you are flipping houses as a business, rather than renting houses as an investment and then selling them at some point, the houses are treated as "inventory" in your business and the gain is taxes as ordinary income. Your marginal rate is the rate you would pay on your next dollar of income, based on your tax bracket.

 But if you are flipping as a business, all gains are taxed as ordinary income..

Less than one year is taxed at your marginal rate. One year and one day or longer is long-term capital gain.

I like Chase QuickPay. It is free. If the tenant also has a Chase account, the funds are available immediately (otherwise up to 5 days). The deposit lists the name of the person which made the transfer.

I don't know why people buy in Detroit proper when houses in the same price range can be found in the suburbs. There are some areas that are ok to invest in, or so I have heard..

Newton is demonstrating that our system of law is broken. Anger should be directed at the system which makes this possible.

You could have two separate areas on your spreadsheet: One for tax expenses and a cash flow calculator that accounts for principal.