How to buy out a family member’s share of investment property. A quit claim deed or warranty will do the trick, but each have their own benefits. Q: My wife and I, along with my brother and his wife, bought a vacation home in 2010. Each couple took half. The home is in California and [...]
What can you do when you discover an old oil tank leak on your recently purchased property? Your options may be limited, especially with the title company. Q: I bought an investment property located on the edge of a river. Apparently, years ago, a nearby oil tank leaked. The tank was not disclosed in the [...]
Is now the right time to sell your rental property? We may be in a seller’s market, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get the most bang for your rental property buck. Q: As always, you give us a lot of good real estate information in your columns. Here's a question regarding my rental home in [...]
Because lenders have the right to place a lien on any investment property you own, it’s important to act quickly or risk losing the property altogether. Q: A bank foreclosed on a property I owned with a business partner. The bank sold the property but the proceeds from the sale weren’t enough to cover the [...]
With all the hard work that goes into being a landlord, it’s sometimes smarter to outsource that work to a property management company. Q: I am planning to buy a four-plex and I was planning on using an on-call handyman instead of property management which is typically expensive. Since this is my first project I [...]
When you’re selling a two-family home, your “cost basis” will determine the taxes you owe. Q: I am in the process of selling my two-family home I have owned it since 1997. I have done major repairs on the tenant’s apartment and am wondering how do I figure out the amount of the tax I’ll [...]
After gaining an investment property from a divorce, this reader asks whether it's better to sell the house or continue to rent it to cover expenses. Q: I got divorced last year and from the divorce, I got a house in California. The value of the house is about $600,000. I owe about $250,000 on [...]
Navigating capital gains tax on the sale of an investment property can be complicated. Consult a tax professional to fully understand your options and their consequences. Q: We bought a rental property (it’s a condo) in 2005 for $80,000. We rented it out until 2016. Our daughter moved into this condo last year after she [...]
Have you moved and decided to rent out your old house rather than sell it at today’s depressed prices? Are you renting out your vacation property? Did you buy a foreclosure or short sale with a residential mortgage and—after you fixed it up—begin renting it out while waiting until you can sell it and make [...]
When you sell a Second Home, you may not get the tax advantages unless the home was an investment property and can defer capital gains. Q: We are considering selling a second home to find another one closer in proximity to our permanent home. We do not want to sell until we find another house [...]
