Bear with me - I'm new to the forum although not new to landlording, real estate investing, etc. We've owned rental properties in the past, flipped houses, etc. This question is about a business (specifically a farming business) owning property vs. an individual owning it.
The story: I started a business a couple of years ago that's become fairly successful. It's a small farm business and the value-added products I create are bringing in decent money. I also have a couple other businesses that provide my expected financial contribution to our household and together my partner and I make a very good living. We are not looking to retire any time soon. We find ourselves with 20k extra from my newer business this year, and that will increase next year to around 35-40k.
I would like to take this extra money in a year or 2 and buy another property in another state so I can a) grow perennial crops that have a certain value in my industry and b) eventually move there or at least spend part of the year there and part here. My extended family lives in this other state and the weather is better much of the year and I could expand what I grow. The crops I'd buy would require only minor maintenance once established, and my thought is that I could lease the farm to someone who is a starting farmer and in exchange for really reasonable rental $$ they could caretake my long term crops. The money I make in my business would go towards the mortgage, so I could take a loss re: rent.
My trips to that property, which I'd also combine with visiting family, could be considered business expenses, and if all goes well in about 3 years I could start to harvest those crops. In maybe 10 years we could build a new house on the property and either continue the lease agreement or just hire someone to do the farming if I'm not there.
My question is this: can my business buy that other property and use the cost as a way to reduce taxable income? If I'm bringing in 20 - 40k extra/year I would like to spend it on my business vs. giving it to myself as income and having to pay a ton of income taxes on it. What are the pros/cons re: having a business own a property?
