Zachary Weiss – Community Stories

In today’s community story, I had a chat with Zachary Weiss – one of our Landlord Studio members about his journey in real estate investing, how he was forced to rent out his house, the benefits of real estate tax write-offs, and his plans for the future.

Zachary Weiss – The Benefits of Real Estate Investing Tax Write-Offs

Zachary is an avid Landlord Studio user and member of our community. A bit over two years ago he converted his property into a rental and hasn’t looked back. Over these two years, he has refined his processes with the help of software like Landlord Studio and learned how to take maximum advantage of the tax benefits that real estate investing comes with.

Below we detail some of the key points from our interview with him. For the full interview watch the video linked above or listen on your favored podcast channel.

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Read: What Landlords Need to Know about Tracking Expenses for Rental Properties

How Did You Get Started in Real Estate Investing?

I actually ended up having a 3rd daughter two years ago and needed to either expand the house we were living in or move somewhere bigger. The property we were living in had a big pole barn on it that I wasn’t really willing to sell. So, we turned it into a rental and there have been a few challenges but yeah, it’s working.

What’s the Biggest Challenge You’ve Experienced so Far?

One challenge I’ve had so far… I had a renter who was a little disgruntled because that barn I mentioned, that I like and wanted to keep, I’ve been storing my stuff in it so I’m there quite regularly. He was a little upset that I was there so often. But I worked with him and we came to a compromise that I’d make sure to let him know if I’m ever dropping by to get stuff out of the barn. That’s what he wanted so you know I’ll make you happy if that’s what you want.

What Are Your Long-Term Goals Do You Intend to Build Your Portfolio?

I’m definitely going to build this up. I’m two years into this so I’m still paying off the current rental but once that’s done I’m going to start looking real hard for the second one. I look at this as a side gig for retirement, so I’ve got a few years to build these up. I’d like to get at least three more properties, potentially more.

How Do You Find Tenants?

I use Zillow and that has been pretty much been the only place that I’ve really posted on and it seems to have worked. I had one renter who had to leave early because he ended up losing his job and was moving out of town and so I let him out of the lease but it’s worked well both times for me so far when looking for new tenants.

Read: How to Find (and Keep) the Best Tenants

What Was Happening in Your Business when You Looked for A Solution Like Landlord Studio?

The main thing is was looking for was a place to store all of my receipts, record the income and expenses, and track my mileage.

I’m really thinking about the tax write off. In the US we can write off all of our expenses as you know against the income. The big thing I was looking for some sort of software to manage that.

I had tried another one that was free but I couldn’t like retrieve receipts from it. It stored them in this weird file format that I couldn’t ever see again so I couldn’t break down my expenses properly.

What Advice Would You Give People Around the Importance of Tracking Their Income and Expenses?

The tax write off is nice. Last year I posted very little profit and I was able to purchase a few things that were primarily for the rental but I also used them at home. I guess the way to look at it, the rental is there to bring in income but it’s also there so you can purchase things you’re gonna use for it.

Don’t just set that income aside in the bank, it’s not doing any good there.

What Would You Say to Someone Undecided About Using Landlord Studio?

Just do it. It’s so much easier. You just put it all in there, you take a picture of the receipt and you’re done.

My dad doesn’t do any of it. I don’t think he even uses a spreadsheet. Even his tax professional asked him if he was recording his mileage when he visited his properties and he was like, no. And I keep telling him this is so much easier this app will almost do it all for you

Read: Should you Use Quickbooks for Rental Property Accounting?