Dec
21
MobileMall RO asked:
Hi! I am a Real Estate investor in the Romanian market and we have currently running a $10.000.000 investment . We have 2 more projects but we don’t have a company to partnership with . Romanian is named El Dorado of real estate investment. Where I find companies in USA or EU to send them a proposal ?
ISSAC
Hi! I am a Real Estate investor in the Romanian market and we have currently running a $10.000.000 investment . We have 2 more projects but we don’t have a company to partnership with . Romanian is named El Dorado of real estate investment. Where I find companies in USA or EU to send them a proposal ?
ISSAC
Dec
21
How to check what real estate particular company owns in California?
Filed Under Renting & Real Estate | 1 Comment
bf asked:
Basically how to find what real estate company owns by its name or real estate license?
Check if company owns homes, houses or just pieces of land.
ELLIS
Basically how to find what real estate company owns by its name or real estate license?
Check if company owns homes, houses or just pieces of land.
ELLIS
Dec
21
real estate?
Filed Under Renting & Real Estate | 9 Comments
jeannie asked:
I just recently passed the real estate test and I have no idea what to do! Please anyone can you give me some advise on what to do next - I need a good company thats willing to train me?
DARRELL
I just recently passed the real estate test and I have no idea what to do! Please anyone can you give me some advise on what to do next - I need a good company thats willing to train me?
DARRELL
Dec
20
Real estate?
Filed Under Financial Services | 3 Comments
Jayce’s mommy asked:
Currently I am a mortgage loan underwriter for a huge financial institution. I want to maybe become a real estate agent. My aunt is making killer money. Now is there any way not to take the class and take the test since I already know a lot of real estate? Or what exactly is the whole process to make this career change?
OTIS
Currently I am a mortgage loan underwriter for a huge financial institution. I want to maybe become a real estate agent. My aunt is making killer money. Now is there any way not to take the class and take the test since I already know a lot of real estate? Or what exactly is the whole process to make this career change?
OTIS
Dec
19
Filed Under Real Estate | Comments Off
Brad Wozny asked:
Knowledge is basically the most important key to success in any industry and specially in real estate investing. Even if you know some of the basic techniques in real estate, then you can successfully buy the best property or home without any down payment. However, increasing knowledge among people has no longer kept real estate investing a specialty of wealthy businessmen only. Today, real estate investing has become a very common financial motion for almost every individual. This change is basically because of the concentration and elimination of company pension plans. Personal investing guides have also replaced these plans as they have become the preferred plans to retirement.
Real Estate Investing Books: Real estate investing books would literally increase your potential knowledge and information in the real estate investing field. Generally speaking, the people who write these books are the ones with experience in real estate industry, and thus they write from personal experiences. There are also real estate investing guide books that are published in electronic format, which are known as Real estate E-books. Real estate investing books would offer you almost all the possible information that is used by professional real estate investors. If you have only recently entered the real estate market then it is important that you posses the required important information which can be found in these real estate investing books.
Real Estate Online Information Sources: Real estate investing includes various categories and sub-categories and there is plenty to learn in the real estate investing market. Although you might find real estate investing books a good source, finding information over the internet is a better idea. There are tons of websites on the internet, where you can find the desired information. You can even find real estate companies online who would keep you alert with the latest happenings in the real estate industry. If you are planning to buy a property or need to invest in real estate, then an online source would then be your best option. Most of the online real estate companies have a great source of real estate listings that you can refer to. Apart from this, you can also invest in one of the listed properties if the prices and the location match your requirements. These online companies would offer you various real estate investing tips and guidelines on how you could make great profits through the various properties that you have.
Other Sources of Real Estate Information: Apart from these information sources, you can also opt for a real estate investing course. You probably could get the most out from a real estate investing course, but you just have to choose the right one. If you are really interested in discovering all the inside secrets of real estate investing, then a real estate investing course can teach you just that. The best part is that that are a number of real estate workshops, classes and courses that educate and offer the required information about the real estate investing market. You just have to choose the right course that would fulfill your need and make you a better real estate investor or help you make a great decision.
JEREMIAH
Knowledge is basically the most important key to success in any industry and specially in real estate investing. Even if you know some of the basic techniques in real estate, then you can successfully buy the best property or home without any down payment. However, increasing knowledge among people has no longer kept real estate investing a specialty of wealthy businessmen only. Today, real estate investing has become a very common financial motion for almost every individual. This change is basically because of the concentration and elimination of company pension plans. Personal investing guides have also replaced these plans as they have become the preferred plans to retirement.
Real Estate Investing Books: Real estate investing books would literally increase your potential knowledge and information in the real estate investing field. Generally speaking, the people who write these books are the ones with experience in real estate industry, and thus they write from personal experiences. There are also real estate investing guide books that are published in electronic format, which are known as Real estate E-books. Real estate investing books would offer you almost all the possible information that is used by professional real estate investors. If you have only recently entered the real estate market then it is important that you posses the required important information which can be found in these real estate investing books.
Real Estate Online Information Sources: Real estate investing includes various categories and sub-categories and there is plenty to learn in the real estate investing market. Although you might find real estate investing books a good source, finding information over the internet is a better idea. There are tons of websites on the internet, where you can find the desired information. You can even find real estate companies online who would keep you alert with the latest happenings in the real estate industry. If you are planning to buy a property or need to invest in real estate, then an online source would then be your best option. Most of the online real estate companies have a great source of real estate listings that you can refer to. Apart from this, you can also invest in one of the listed properties if the prices and the location match your requirements. These online companies would offer you various real estate investing tips and guidelines on how you could make great profits through the various properties that you have.
Other Sources of Real Estate Information: Apart from these information sources, you can also opt for a real estate investing course. You probably could get the most out from a real estate investing course, but you just have to choose the right one. If you are really interested in discovering all the inside secrets of real estate investing, then a real estate investing course can teach you just that. The best part is that that are a number of real estate workshops, classes and courses that educate and offer the required information about the real estate investing market. You just have to choose the right course that would fulfill your need and make you a better real estate investor or help you make a great decision.
JEREMIAH
Dec
17
Real Estate?
Filed Under Other - Business & Finance | Comments Off
nashe asked:
I am in real estate business in Malaysia.
I am in real estate business in Malaysia.
I have lots of land for sale below market value.
I personally, interested to buy some, but I have no cash.
Do anyone know who is interested to buy lands in Malaysia?
JOHN
Dec
16
Filed Under Real Estate | Comments Off
Joe Cline - Austin Real Estate Broker asked:
Decide to Buy
The first step in buying a house is to try and understand what you hope to achieve. When you begin to think about buying a new house, there are many questions you should ask yourself such as: Why do I want to move? How soon do I want to move? How long do I plan on living in the home? For some people renting or putting off buying makes sense. Expect to commit to your home for 3-5 years if you want to avoid losing money on the home.
Needs Analysis
Once you decided that home ownership is right for you will want to decide a few things: What are the most important features to you in a house? How much do you want to invest in your home? Initially? Every month? Do you have lifestyle changes coming, such as adding a baby, having kids move out, or retiring? What part of town do you want to live in? What school district do you want your kids to go to school in? Once your goals are clearly defined you have your target.
Get Pre-Qualified
An important part of the home buying process is to be qualified for a loan. You should get a “pre-qualification” letter before you start actively looking for a house. Most lenders can provide this over the phone or with a simple 1-page questionnaire. This typically takes 20 minutes. Some data you should have ready is your and your spouse’s name, address, phone numbers, social security numbers, and past two years of employment, residential, bank, asset and debt information. If possible, you should try to get pre-approved for a loan which is a more serious level of commitment from a lender than a pre-qualification. To receive a loan pre-approval, all employment and credit is verified. This will mean that you are approved for a loan, subject to a final credit check and an appraisal of the subject property.
Make sure to inquire about all loans costs (origination fees, discount points, etc) and find out about closing costs. Closing costs are the fees for services, taxes or special interest charges that surround the purchase of a home. They include up front loan points, title insurance, escrow or closing day charges, document fees, prepaid interest and property taxes. Studies show that the closing costs, which can average 2 to 3 percent of a total home purchase price, are often more costly than many buyers expect. Unless, these charges are rolled into the loan, they must be paid when the home is closed. Finally, make sure your lender provides a Good Faith Estimate according to the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z). This allows you to “compare apples to apples” between different lenders.
Home Search
After you’ve found a house that you like, fits your needs, and has potential, you’ll need to prepare an offer. Determine whether or not the house is priced fairly by doing a thorough Comparative Market Analysis. Then review the seller’s disclosure and make appropriate adjustments and write your initial offer. Offers should include an earnest money check (made out to a title company), and an option money check (made out to the seller).
Some of the words in the previous paragraph may not be familiar to you. Let’s look at them:
Option Money - a check made out to the seller in exchange for the unrestricted right to terminate the agreement for a specified number of days. This is not found in many states.
Earnest Money - a check made out to a Title Company as a show of “good faith” that you are seriously intending to buy the house. The amount is usually around 1% of the home’s value.
Escrow Account - a special account administered by the Title Company that holds your earnest money until closing.
Title Company - a company that verifies the validity of a title and offers insurance to protect against problems with any liens on a property or clouds on a title. This company also conducts the closing.
Closing - the actual process of transferring the title of a house from the seller to the buyer (including assigning any liens to lenders for mortgages).
Inspection and Repairs
To protect your best interests, have structural and systems inspections done by qualified inspectors of your choice. Your lender will typically also require a termite and wood destroying insect (WDI) inspection. The inspection is a great opportunity to ask questions about your prospective home and learn important information about where everything is and how it works.
When the inspection reports come in, you will need to decide if the home is acceptable “as is”. If you require repairs to be made, then you will have to negotiate with the seller. At that point, you make a counter offer to the seller requesting either that the repairs be done before closing or extra money to be given to you at closing to cover repairs. The seller can either negotiate these points with us or decide to not continue to negotiate. If the seller rejects the offer and you do not want to buy the home as is, the contract falls through, the seller would be free to accept another offer, and your earnest money would be returned to you. If you come to terms an amendment to the contract will be made and we will waive our option to terminate. Then you will contact your lender to request an appraisal and start planning your move. A day before closing or on the same day, it is recommended that you walk through the house to make sure that everything is in order. This protects you from closing on a home that has been damaged in the move out process or that has been taken possession of by another party.
Closing
The exciting day is finally here! You will review the settlement statement (HUD-1) so that you can clear up any questions before closing. Possession of the home generally happens the same day that papers are signed, but sometimes a snag in the funding of the loan will cause a delay in possesion. For this reason it’s best to allow an extra day (or more if we are closing on a Friday or day before a holiday) before you need to be able to move in.
After closing you should file a change of address. File an official change of address form at you local post office or online in the advance so that your mail delivery will not be interrupted. Many corporations, such as credit card companies and magazine subscriptions, take 1 or 2 months to process a change of address.
Congrats! You are now a proud homeowner!
RAYMOND
Decide to Buy
The first step in buying a house is to try and understand what you hope to achieve. When you begin to think about buying a new house, there are many questions you should ask yourself such as: Why do I want to move? How soon do I want to move? How long do I plan on living in the home? For some people renting or putting off buying makes sense. Expect to commit to your home for 3-5 years if you want to avoid losing money on the home.
Needs Analysis
Once you decided that home ownership is right for you will want to decide a few things: What are the most important features to you in a house? How much do you want to invest in your home? Initially? Every month? Do you have lifestyle changes coming, such as adding a baby, having kids move out, or retiring? What part of town do you want to live in? What school district do you want your kids to go to school in? Once your goals are clearly defined you have your target.
Get Pre-Qualified
An important part of the home buying process is to be qualified for a loan. You should get a “pre-qualification” letter before you start actively looking for a house. Most lenders can provide this over the phone or with a simple 1-page questionnaire. This typically takes 20 minutes. Some data you should have ready is your and your spouse’s name, address, phone numbers, social security numbers, and past two years of employment, residential, bank, asset and debt information. If possible, you should try to get pre-approved for a loan which is a more serious level of commitment from a lender than a pre-qualification. To receive a loan pre-approval, all employment and credit is verified. This will mean that you are approved for a loan, subject to a final credit check and an appraisal of the subject property.
Make sure to inquire about all loans costs (origination fees, discount points, etc) and find out about closing costs. Closing costs are the fees for services, taxes or special interest charges that surround the purchase of a home. They include up front loan points, title insurance, escrow or closing day charges, document fees, prepaid interest and property taxes. Studies show that the closing costs, which can average 2 to 3 percent of a total home purchase price, are often more costly than many buyers expect. Unless, these charges are rolled into the loan, they must be paid when the home is closed. Finally, make sure your lender provides a Good Faith Estimate according to the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z). This allows you to “compare apples to apples” between different lenders.
Home Search
After you’ve found a house that you like, fits your needs, and has potential, you’ll need to prepare an offer. Determine whether or not the house is priced fairly by doing a thorough Comparative Market Analysis. Then review the seller’s disclosure and make appropriate adjustments and write your initial offer. Offers should include an earnest money check (made out to a title company), and an option money check (made out to the seller).
Some of the words in the previous paragraph may not be familiar to you. Let’s look at them:
Option Money - a check made out to the seller in exchange for the unrestricted right to terminate the agreement for a specified number of days. This is not found in many states.
Earnest Money - a check made out to a Title Company as a show of “good faith” that you are seriously intending to buy the house. The amount is usually around 1% of the home’s value.
Escrow Account - a special account administered by the Title Company that holds your earnest money until closing.
Title Company - a company that verifies the validity of a title and offers insurance to protect against problems with any liens on a property or clouds on a title. This company also conducts the closing.
Closing - the actual process of transferring the title of a house from the seller to the buyer (including assigning any liens to lenders for mortgages).
Inspection and Repairs
To protect your best interests, have structural and systems inspections done by qualified inspectors of your choice. Your lender will typically also require a termite and wood destroying insect (WDI) inspection. The inspection is a great opportunity to ask questions about your prospective home and learn important information about where everything is and how it works.
When the inspection reports come in, you will need to decide if the home is acceptable “as is”. If you require repairs to be made, then you will have to negotiate with the seller. At that point, you make a counter offer to the seller requesting either that the repairs be done before closing or extra money to be given to you at closing to cover repairs. The seller can either negotiate these points with us or decide to not continue to negotiate. If the seller rejects the offer and you do not want to buy the home as is, the contract falls through, the seller would be free to accept another offer, and your earnest money would be returned to you. If you come to terms an amendment to the contract will be made and we will waive our option to terminate. Then you will contact your lender to request an appraisal and start planning your move. A day before closing or on the same day, it is recommended that you walk through the house to make sure that everything is in order. This protects you from closing on a home that has been damaged in the move out process or that has been taken possession of by another party.
Closing
The exciting day is finally here! You will review the settlement statement (HUD-1) so that you can clear up any questions before closing. Possession of the home generally happens the same day that papers are signed, but sometimes a snag in the funding of the loan will cause a delay in possesion. For this reason it’s best to allow an extra day (or more if we are closing on a Friday or day before a holiday) before you need to be able to move in.
After closing you should file a change of address. File an official change of address form at you local post office or online in the advance so that your mail delivery will not be interrupted. Many corporations, such as credit card companies and magazine subscriptions, take 1 or 2 months to process a change of address.
Congrats! You are now a proud homeowner!
RAYMOND
Dec
16
What is the best state to sell real estate and what are the requirements to have a real estate license there?
Filed Under Renting & Real Estate | 1 Comment
Ashley asked:
What is the best state to sell real estate and what are the requirements to have a real estate license there?
JACKIE
What is the best state to sell real estate and what are the requirements to have a real estate license there?
JACKIE
Dec
16
Filed Under Real Estate | Comments Off
Real Estate Advisor asked:
If you are looking for the best golf community living in San Diego County, check out these top ten golf communities that are the best in sunny Southern California, according to Golf Community Realty. These exclusive gated golfing communities offer the most suitable lifestyle for golf lovers and have been chosen based on the homes available and the amenities they offer. All ten communities enjoy the exquisite Californian weather year round and are the ultimate golf areas in San Diego County.
1. Pauma Valley C.C., Pauma Valley
This golf community offers a magnificent golf course, 24-hr gate-guarded entrance, clubhouse, tennis courts, a swimming pool and a long private airstrip. Resale condos begin from the low $400s while single family homes start from $575,000.
2. Aviara Golf Club, No. San Diego County
The golf community boasts of a very picturesque resort, the Arnold Palmer Signature golf course and proximity to the Pacific Ocean beaches. The resort’s master planned housing area consists of executive homes and custom homes. Also available are numerous villas that skirt the golf course.
3. Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Fe
This golf community is known for its award-winning villas that are available on the resale market from time to time. Custom-appointed homes begin from the mid $2 millions. Custom estate homesites and estate-sized homes are also available.
4. The Crosby Estate, Rancho Santa Fe
The Crosby Estate is home to the Crosby National Golf Club and beautiful homes with breathtaking views that include semi-custom homes, golf villas, and custom homesites. Also available are a clubhouse, a swim and athletic club, tennis garden, etc.
5. Encinitas Ranch, Encinitas
The Encinitas Ranch Golf Course offers 18 championship holes amidst a stunning natural scenario. Elegant executive homes line the golf course and are available from $895,000.
6. Golf Club of California, Fallbrook
This private golf club offers an 18-hole championship golf course, a charming clubhouse, a business center and more. Homes start from $895,000 and most of them offer wonderful views.
7. Maderas C.C., Poway
This Poway golf community offers a magnificent location, a top ranking 18-hole golf course and several custom homes that are available from 1,175,000.
8. Pala Mesa Resort, Fallbrook
The resort community offers a beautiful 4-star rating golf course, tennis club, swimming pool and a host of other amenities. Condos around the golf course start at $279,000 and other homes in the area begin at $650,000.
9. Santaluz, No. San Diego County
This is a private club with a championship golf course. Homes include single story homes of the Santa Barbara styled casitas and large custom homes. There are plenty of custom homesites too.
10. Village of Rancho Santa Fe
“The Village” of Rancho Santa Fe offers several championship golf courses and other amenities such as tennis courts, a riding club, etc. Homes in this area consist of custom homes, luxurious ranches and large estate homes.
TYRONE
If you are looking for the best golf community living in San Diego County, check out these top ten golf communities that are the best in sunny Southern California, according to Golf Community Realty. These exclusive gated golfing communities offer the most suitable lifestyle for golf lovers and have been chosen based on the homes available and the amenities they offer. All ten communities enjoy the exquisite Californian weather year round and are the ultimate golf areas in San Diego County.
1. Pauma Valley C.C., Pauma Valley
This golf community offers a magnificent golf course, 24-hr gate-guarded entrance, clubhouse, tennis courts, a swimming pool and a long private airstrip. Resale condos begin from the low $400s while single family homes start from $575,000.
2. Aviara Golf Club, No. San Diego County
The golf community boasts of a very picturesque resort, the Arnold Palmer Signature golf course and proximity to the Pacific Ocean beaches. The resort’s master planned housing area consists of executive homes and custom homes. Also available are numerous villas that skirt the golf course.
3. Bridges at Rancho Santa Fe, Rancho Santa Fe
This golf community is known for its award-winning villas that are available on the resale market from time to time. Custom-appointed homes begin from the mid $2 millions. Custom estate homesites and estate-sized homes are also available.
4. The Crosby Estate, Rancho Santa Fe
The Crosby Estate is home to the Crosby National Golf Club and beautiful homes with breathtaking views that include semi-custom homes, golf villas, and custom homesites. Also available are a clubhouse, a swim and athletic club, tennis garden, etc.
5. Encinitas Ranch, Encinitas
The Encinitas Ranch Golf Course offers 18 championship holes amidst a stunning natural scenario. Elegant executive homes line the golf course and are available from $895,000.
6. Golf Club of California, Fallbrook
This private golf club offers an 18-hole championship golf course, a charming clubhouse, a business center and more. Homes start from $895,000 and most of them offer wonderful views.
7. Maderas C.C., Poway
This Poway golf community offers a magnificent location, a top ranking 18-hole golf course and several custom homes that are available from 1,175,000.
8. Pala Mesa Resort, Fallbrook
The resort community offers a beautiful 4-star rating golf course, tennis club, swimming pool and a host of other amenities. Condos around the golf course start at $279,000 and other homes in the area begin at $650,000.
9. Santaluz, No. San Diego County
This is a private club with a championship golf course. Homes include single story homes of the Santa Barbara styled casitas and large custom homes. There are plenty of custom homesites too.
10. Village of Rancho Santa Fe
“The Village” of Rancho Santa Fe offers several championship golf courses and other amenities such as tennis courts, a riding club, etc. Homes in this area consist of custom homes, luxurious ranches and large estate homes.
TYRONE
Dec
15
Filed Under Finance | Comments Off
Tom Wheelwright asked:
Even if you have strong positive cash flow from your rental real estate, chances are you still have a loss for tax purposes due to the depreciation deduction.
This is a great tax strategy because your positive cash flow is sheltered from tax. But, it can be even better if you are able to take your losses against your other income (like your income from your job or the business that you run).
The general rule for rental real estate losses is that they are passive. This means they can only be taken against passive income. The income from your job and the business you run is active income so your rental losses cannot shelter this income. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.
** Exception #1: “Active Real Estate” exception. **
The Background on the Active Real Estate Exception
Rental real estate, in many cases, is held to provide financial security to individuals with moderate incomes. Because of this Congress believed that a rental real estate investment in which a taxpayer has significant responsibilities and which served a significant non-tax purpose should be treated differently than the activities meant to be limited under the passive loss provisions. So Congress created the active rental real estate exception.
- How It Works -
If you are active in your rental real estate activities you may be able to deduct up to $25,000 of your rental losses against other ordinary income. We say may be because there are income limitations which phase out the $25,000 deduction. The phase out will start when your adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 and end when your adjusted gross income is at $150,000. This means that for every $2 over $100,000 of adjusted gross income you will lose $1 off the $25,000 deductible amount. For example if your adjusted gross income is $120,000 you will have to reduce the $25,000 exception by $10,000 and the most rental real estate losses you can deduct will be $15,000 for that tax year.
Don’t let your high income penalize you! Learn my tax secrets to increase your cash flow by uncovering the hidden cash flow in your real estate. Several of my secrets reveal how to legally get around these income limitations!
What constitutes active participation?
Active participation exists so long as you participate, in the making of management decisions or arranging for others to provide services (such as repairs), in a significant and bona fide sense. Also, you must have at least a 10% interest in the activity at any time during the year.
** Exception #2: “Real Estate Professional” exception. **
What is a Real Estate Professional?
First, let’s dispense with one myth: Real Estate Professional status does not mean you have to hold a real estate license. Rather, it is a designation you obtain by meeting certain specific requirements. If you qualify as a real estate professional you can deduct all your current year rental real estate losses against other income without limitations.
Requirement #1
The first requirement is that you spend more than 750 hours in real estate trades or businesses in which you materially participate.
What is a real estate trade or business? A real estate trade or business is defined as ANY real estate development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation, management, leasing, or brokerage trade or business.
The 750 hours test must be met for each activity. So for example, say you have three rental properties. The general rule is that you have to perform at least 750 hours on activities related to EACH of those three properties. Fortunately, there is an exception to this rule. If you make the election to aggregate all of your rental real estate activities into one activity, you only have to meet the 750 hours requirement once for the tax year.
What types of activities qualify as real estate professional activities? Activities such as:
- Searching for possible rental properties
- Attending real estate seminars or reading real estate books
- Meeting with real estate agents and viewing properties
- Meeting with mortgage brokers with regards to getting loans on properties
- Travel time to and from the seminars and your property searches
- Preparing your bookkeeping and tax information for your rental properties
- Time spend buying or selling properties (i.e. signing the closing documents)
- Studying and reviewing financial reports (Investor-type)
- Preparing summaries or analyses for personal use (Investor-type)
- Monitoring finances or operation in a non-managerial capacity (Investor-type)
An important note to the investor-type activities mentioned above is that these activities can only be counted towards real estate professional time if you are involved in the day-to-day operations or management of the activity for which you perform those tasks. Essentially, this means that if you have an independent property manager and your only real estate business is your rental properties, you probably will not qualify as a real estate professional.
Requirement #2
The second requirement is that you spend more time in your real estate trades or businesses than in ALL OTHER trades or businesses combined. Time spent as an employee in real estate activities is counted only if you are a more than a 5% owner in that business.
- What You Need to Do -
You have to meet the above requirements each year. So, you could be a real estate professional one year but not the next. Only one spouse needs to meet the requirements in order for a married couple to take advantage of the benefits provided by the real estate professional status.
The extent of an individual’s participation in an activity may be established by any reasonable means. Contemporaneous daily time reports, logs, or similar documents are not required if the extent of such participation may be established by other reasonable means. Documentation required includes the identification of services performed over a period of time and the approximate number of hours spent performing such services during such period, based on appointment books, calendars, or narrative statements.
If you are audited, the IRS will ask you to prove your real estate professional status. For more on how to be prepared, see my recent article titled: “Three (3) Things You Can Do To Be Prepared For An Audit”
HAL
Even if you have strong positive cash flow from your rental real estate, chances are you still have a loss for tax purposes due to the depreciation deduction.
This is a great tax strategy because your positive cash flow is sheltered from tax. But, it can be even better if you are able to take your losses against your other income (like your income from your job or the business that you run).
The general rule for rental real estate losses is that they are passive. This means they can only be taken against passive income. The income from your job and the business you run is active income so your rental losses cannot shelter this income. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.
** Exception #1: “Active Real Estate” exception. **
The Background on the Active Real Estate Exception
Rental real estate, in many cases, is held to provide financial security to individuals with moderate incomes. Because of this Congress believed that a rental real estate investment in which a taxpayer has significant responsibilities and which served a significant non-tax purpose should be treated differently than the activities meant to be limited under the passive loss provisions. So Congress created the active rental real estate exception.
- How It Works -
If you are active in your rental real estate activities you may be able to deduct up to $25,000 of your rental losses against other ordinary income. We say may be because there are income limitations which phase out the $25,000 deduction. The phase out will start when your adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 and end when your adjusted gross income is at $150,000. This means that for every $2 over $100,000 of adjusted gross income you will lose $1 off the $25,000 deductible amount. For example if your adjusted gross income is $120,000 you will have to reduce the $25,000 exception by $10,000 and the most rental real estate losses you can deduct will be $15,000 for that tax year.
Don’t let your high income penalize you! Learn my tax secrets to increase your cash flow by uncovering the hidden cash flow in your real estate. Several of my secrets reveal how to legally get around these income limitations!
What constitutes active participation?
Active participation exists so long as you participate, in the making of management decisions or arranging for others to provide services (such as repairs), in a significant and bona fide sense. Also, you must have at least a 10% interest in the activity at any time during the year.
** Exception #2: “Real Estate Professional” exception. **
What is a Real Estate Professional?
First, let’s dispense with one myth: Real Estate Professional status does not mean you have to hold a real estate license. Rather, it is a designation you obtain by meeting certain specific requirements. If you qualify as a real estate professional you can deduct all your current year rental real estate losses against other income without limitations.
Requirement #1
The first requirement is that you spend more than 750 hours in real estate trades or businesses in which you materially participate.
What is a real estate trade or business? A real estate trade or business is defined as ANY real estate development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation, management, leasing, or brokerage trade or business.
The 750 hours test must be met for each activity. So for example, say you have three rental properties. The general rule is that you have to perform at least 750 hours on activities related to EACH of those three properties. Fortunately, there is an exception to this rule. If you make the election to aggregate all of your rental real estate activities into one activity, you only have to meet the 750 hours requirement once for the tax year.
What types of activities qualify as real estate professional activities? Activities such as:
- Searching for possible rental properties
- Attending real estate seminars or reading real estate books
- Meeting with real estate agents and viewing properties
- Meeting with mortgage brokers with regards to getting loans on properties
- Travel time to and from the seminars and your property searches
- Preparing your bookkeeping and tax information for your rental properties
- Time spend buying or selling properties (i.e. signing the closing documents)
- Studying and reviewing financial reports (Investor-type)
- Preparing summaries or analyses for personal use (Investor-type)
- Monitoring finances or operation in a non-managerial capacity (Investor-type)
An important note to the investor-type activities mentioned above is that these activities can only be counted towards real estate professional time if you are involved in the day-to-day operations or management of the activity for which you perform those tasks. Essentially, this means that if you have an independent property manager and your only real estate business is your rental properties, you probably will not qualify as a real estate professional.
Requirement #2
The second requirement is that you spend more time in your real estate trades or businesses than in ALL OTHER trades or businesses combined. Time spent as an employee in real estate activities is counted only if you are a more than a 5% owner in that business.
- What You Need to Do -
You have to meet the above requirements each year. So, you could be a real estate professional one year but not the next. Only one spouse needs to meet the requirements in order for a married couple to take advantage of the benefits provided by the real estate professional status.
The extent of an individual’s participation in an activity may be established by any reasonable means. Contemporaneous daily time reports, logs, or similar documents are not required if the extent of such participation may be established by other reasonable means. Documentation required includes the identification of services performed over a period of time and the approximate number of hours spent performing such services during such period, based on appointment books, calendars, or narrative statements.
If you are audited, the IRS will ask you to prove your real estate professional status. For more on how to be prepared, see my recent article titled: “Three (3) Things You Can Do To Be Prepared For An Audit”
HAL