Tax software for new landlord, rental property that hasn't had a tenant and more

[Aimza]

Hello all,

I'm on the hunt for a tax software. I used to use H&R Block deluxe but in 2016 my situation changed. Here goes:

For over 8 years owned primary residence (a mobile home) in upstate NY and secondary residence (a co-op) in NJ.

In 2016 purchased a new home in Long Island, NY, moved from both residences and updated my STAR taxes discount to LI and changed my primary residence on driver's license and voting registration to LI.

LI home is a 2 family / duplex and I am renting out the top unit. They pay cash.

I have done some minor renovations to the rental unit like upgrading electric. Can I claim this?

I intended to sell or rent both the upstate NY home and the NJ co-op and both have been on the market for 1.5 years and 9 months respectively. Neither one has managed to get a tenant or buyer :(

Because I need to get a home equity loan for renovations on the LI home at some point after both other residences are sold or rented, I need to claim the rent (and because legally it's the right thing to do, blah blah!)


I'm confused if I will be able to do taxes on my own. Can the unoccupied residences be claimed as losses since I haven't been able to rent them but I've had to pay all the bills on them?

Do I need to upgrade to H&R Block Premium or would a Turbo Tax be better? Or does this all sound too complicated for someone not schooled in these things and should I pay a professional?

Any insight or advice that can be provided would be awesome. Thank you in advance for reading this post.

Aimee

[SeattleCPA]

Hello all,

I'm on the hunt for a tax software. I used to use H&R Block deluxe but in 2016 my situation changed. Here goes:

For over 8 years owned primary residence (a mobile home) in upstate NY and secondary residence (a co-op) in NJ.

In 2016 purchased a new home in Long Island, NY, moved from both residences and updated my STAR taxes discount to LI and changed my primary residence on driver's license and voting registration to LI.

LI home is a 2 family / duplex and I am renting out the top unit. They pay cash.

I have done some minor renovations to the rental unit like upgrading electric. Can I claim this?

I intended to sell or rent both the upstate NY home and the NJ co-op and both have been on the market for 1.5 years and 9 months respectively. Neither one has managed to get a tenant or buyer :(

Because I need to get a home equity loan for renovations on the LI home at some point after both other residences are sold or rented, I need to claim the rent (and because legally it's the right thing to do, blah blah!)


I'm confused if I will be able to do taxes on my own. Can the unoccupied residences be claimed as losses since I haven't been able to rent them but I've had to pay all the bills on them?

Do I need to upgrade to H&R Block Premium or would a Turbo Tax be better? Or does this all sound too complicated for someone not schooled in these things and should I pay a professional?

Any insight or advice that can be provided would be awesome. Thank you in advance for reading this post.

Aimee

I am a huge fan of DIY tax preparation--even though I'm in the business of preparing tax returns. (I'm not going to post a link to it, but if you click my blog link in sig, you can easily find a blost post where I recommend people use TurboTax or similar product and go DIY...)

However, I think if your return has real estate, multistate issues, you probably need to find a good, local professional.

BTW, I also think it might make sense to simplify your taxes to the point where you can do them yourself..

[Aimza]

I am a huge fan of DIY tax preparation--even though I'm in the business of preparing tax returns. (I'm not going to post a link to it, but if you click my blog link in sig, you can easily find a blost post where I recommend people use TurboTax or similar product and go DIY...)

However, I think if your return has real estate, multistate issues, you probably need to find a good, local professional.

BTW, I also think it might make sense to simplify your taxes to the point where you can do them yourself..
[/quote]

I've always done my taxes myself in years past and want my two extra properties sold sooner rather than later, but the market is not working in my favor. I've lowered the price repeatedly but for several reasons they are just not selling. Renting them out is just an option so that I'm not taking a total loss on my expenses for them every month. Ideally, I want/need them gone even though I will be taking a huge financial loss on both since they've gone down in value.

I long for a simple life and hope to obtain that this year!