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Money
The money side of running a rental. Rent, deposits, taxes, and the numbers that keep you profitable.
Posts
32 posts-
Do landlords have to send a 1099 to a contractor?
The threshold moved from $600 to $2,000, the deadline did not, and the answer still turns on whether your rental counts as a trade or business. What to collect in November so January is a filing job and not a phone-call job. Money -
What a condition report needs besides a list of rooms
Most condition report templates are a room list with a comment box. The parts that decide a dispute are elsewhere: the header block, the rating scale, the second column for the tenant, the deadline, and the sign-off. Money -
How to shoot a move-in video somebody will actually watch
A walkthrough video is only useful if a stranger can follow it a year later. Ten rules for route, narration, pacing and length, plus the case for short clips over one long take. Money -
Repair or improvement? The question your invoice should answer
A deductible repair and a capitalized improvement can be the same plumber on the same day. The IRS test, the three safe harbors small landlords can elect, and the invoice habit that decides it for you. Money -
Where repair receipts go to die, and how to stop losing them
Almost every landlord loses money at tax time to invoices they cannot find, cannot allocate to a unit, or cannot tell apart from a capital improvement. Three habits that fix it, and the 1099 threshold that just changed. Money -
When to fix it yourself and when to call somebody
The DIY question is not about skill. It is about liability, licensing thresholds, what your hour is worth, and whether you will be around next time it breaks. A decision rule, and the four jobs to never do yourself. Money -
Your maintenance spreadsheet is fine until it isn't
A spreadsheet is a genuinely good maintenance tracker for a small portfolio. Here is what it does well, the four failures that show up as you grow, and the honest test for whether you have hit them yet. Money -
Pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent: which one actually works
The three pet charges behave completely differently under a deposit cap, at move-out, and on your tax return. Here is what each one is, why pet rent has quietly become the default, and where a pet deposit still makes sense. Money