If you’re thinking about buying Utah real estate as a rental property, you’re probably aware that you can use leverage, or borrowed money, to increase your return on investment. While your mortgage payments remain relatively stable, you’ll be earning passive income month after month that increases over time, all with little effort on your part. Still, there is another way investment real estate pays off: rental property deductions.

Did you know that many of your rental property expenses are tax deductible? Everything from your annual mortgage interest and property taxes to rental property management and repairs may be deducted every year at tax time, reducing the total income tax you need to pay on your profits.

So, which tax deductions for rental property can you qualify for when you buy Utah real estate? Here’s a look.

Rental Property Deductions You Can Take

• Mortgage expenses. While you can’t deduct the costs to get the mortgage when you pay them (such as appraisals), these costs can be amortized over the entire length of the loan. You can also deduct the annual amount of mortgage interest you pay on your Utah real estate, plus any property tax and mortgage insurance.
• Travel expenses. Do you need to travel to your property to collect rent or perform necessary maintenance? These expenses can be deducted in two ways: standard mileage rate or your actual expenses. If you need to travel overnight, you can also deduct expenses like meals, hotel costs and airfare — just keep records!
• Loss from theft or casualties, such as a flood.
• Lawn care. Do you hire someone to take care of the lawn on the property? This can count as a deductible rental property expense.
• Service Costs. If you hire a professional to do your taxes, their fee may be deducted. You can also deduct the fees you pay to accountants, property managers, real estate agents, attorneys and any other professional you pay that’s related to your Utah investment property.
• Property improvements. Unlike necessary expenses, you can’t immediately deduct the cost of improvements you make to your Utah real estate. Instead, these improvements may be depreciated over the life expectancy of the home (27.5 years for residential real estate).
• Property depreciation. Did you know you can actually deduct the price you paid for your Utah investment property on your taxes? The cost won’t be fully deductible the year you buy the property, although you can deduct a portion of the sales price every year over the expected life of the home through depreciation.
• Insurance. You can deduct the premiums you pay for insurance on the property, including flood insurance, landlord liability insurance and even worker’s compensation insurance if you have employees.
• Contractor and employee costs. Amazingly, you can even deduct employee wages as rental property expenses if they do work for your property. This includes independent contractors like plumbers and electricians as well.

How the Red Sign Team Can Help

As you can see, investing in Utah investment properties can be a truly lucrative practice with a wide range of tax benefits, along with providing you a steady stream of passive income for years to come. The team at Red Sign is well versed in these benefits and can help you learn more about deducting your expenses properly for the most return. We have years of experience helping people like you find investment opportunities in Utah that can really lead to financial security and freedom.

To learn more about the amazing tax benefits you can enjoy when you invest in Utah real estate or get help locating those great opportunities in our state, please contact the team at Red Sign today.

Pumpkins are lining every doorway, grocery store aisles are fully equipped with candy in spooky wrappers, and ghouls are popping up in front yards everywhere. In honor of the upcoming Halloween holiday, we’ve researched the top 13 Utah haunted houses that you won’t want to miss this October! Beware of zombies, ghosts, and goblins as you check out these haunted attractions!

1. Nightmare on 13th features 3 different “nightmares”: Zombie Apocalypse, Cirque Du Fear, and NetherBeast. Located at 300 W 1300 S in Salt Lake City, this haunted house is sure to be a hit!

2. Castle of Chaos has 3 Utah locations in Riverdale, Taylorsville, and Orem. The Orem location is Utah County’s newest and largest indoor haunted house! Check it out tonight!

3. The Haunted Forest features the Wasatch Front’s only scream park! This unforgettable experience takes place in a real forest and is sure to thrill!

4. The Fear Factory in Salt Lake promises to be an “extreme haunted attraction focusing on bringing the terror”! This is an attraction not to miss!

5. The Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus- the “scariest haunt on Earth”- is one of the best rated haunted attractions in the Salt Lake City area. Be sure to be sure to check it out this Halloween!

6. The Anguish Asylum haunted house is located in Provo at the Towne Center mall. Get committed!

7. XSI Factory in Lehi features a Zombie Apocalypse experience unlike any other! When they arrive, can you survive?

8. The Haunted Hollow, located in Ogden, brags to be the “mother of all terrors”. Find your way through the dark forest this October!

9. Asylum 49  in Tooele is a haunted hospital attraction that won’t disappoint. Be sure to reserve your tickets before you go! This local attraction is a Utah favorite.

10. The Awakening Haunt in Lehi is said to be one of the scariest, best attractions around. This is a definite must-do for Halloween!

 11. Dead’s End Yard Hunt in Logan specializes in effects to make the attraction even more terrifying. Go check out some expertly decorated zombies!

12. Dark Meadows Manor in Wellsville stands near the grounds of an old hotel and manor. Go learn the ghostly story surrounding this haunt!

13. Cornbelly’s Haunted Corn Maze is sure to leave you shaking in your boots. Find your way through the corn and past the ghouls!

Get ready, grab a hand to hold, and go! Hopefully you’ll return to tell the tale…

What’s your favorite haunted house in Utah? 

What did we miss?

Selling a Home in Fall

We’ve made it through summer which can often be the hardest time of year to sell a home.  Fall sure came quickly this year, didn’t it? Seems like we even got a little blast of winter there for a few days. Luckily it is warming up and hopefully the duration of October will be the warm, breezy, cozy fall weather most of us love.

Here are some tips from HGTV to think about as you prepare to sell your Utah real estate this fall.

• Curb Appeal. We talk about this with every changing season, but that is because creating great curb appeal requires different things each season. The good thing about fall is that the seasonal foliage can be an automatic boon to the beauty of your home. Keep in mind though that you need to put in the work to keep your home looking its best. Keep the falling leaves raked and patch up any brown spots in your lawn. As the leaves fall from the trees, minor flaws in your homes exterior are more exposed. Examine your home carefully to inspect for chipped paint, dirty siding, etc. It never hurts to pressure-wash your home and retouch the paint before you start showing.

• Sense Appeal. I just put my “pumpkin roll” scent in to my Scentsy this morning. I don’t want to leave the house. It smells that good.  Certainly smells can’t sell a house, but the array of pleasant fall scents (think apples, cinnamon, baked goods, etc.) can create a homey and comfortable feel in your home.  As the weather cools more time is spent inside. Make your home a welcome place where buyers can envision passing their days. Let in as much natural light as possible and
  emphasize comfort by accenting your decor with soft blankets or plush towels.

Warmth. We’re all a little scared of winter. Or is that just me? I want my home to be a warm and inviting place. If your home has a fireplace, this is a great selling point during the cooler months. Make your fireplace a focal point. You can place a mirror, artwork, vases or other tasteful decor on the mantel to draw more attention to your fireplace.

Buying a Distressed Home

With so many short sales, foreclosures, and REOs available in the Utah real estate market, it is hard to imagine that anyone would not want to take advantage of these great properties. After all purchasing a distressed property can offer the buyer substantial savings (an average of 28% savings last year). The truth is that there are lots of advantages to buying a distressed home, but there are also lots of potential pitfalls.

For starters, it isn’t just potential home buyers that are out looking for properties at a discount. Investors flock to distressed properties, and the more competition there is for a property the higher the price can go, so you may not get as much of a bargain as you were hoping for.

Secondly, the transaction process for buying a short sale or a foreclosure often takes significantly longer than a traditional transaction. The negotiation of a short sale can take months and it is riddled with uncertainty. The banks will continue to market and accept offers on a home after you have submitted your offer. It definitely can be a roller coaster!

Some foreclosed properties are in rough condition. Homes were meant to be lived in and as such there are problems that crop up if a home has sat idle for a long time with little maintenance. Not to mention that some home owners aren’t all that thrilled to find out that they are getting foreclosed upon and will stop maintaining the property and even deliberately damage the property.

But, there is a bright side! The market is full of distressed properties and lots of them are well maintained and cared for homes. The economy has forced lots of people to walk away from their homes who generally wouldn’t be in that situation.

Another bright side is that when you are purchasing a distressed property you are likely going to be working with a highly motivated seller. Whether it is the bank in the case of a foreclosure, or in a short sale, with sellers who are in financial trouble and anxious to get out of a mortgage they can no longer afford. No matter what type of distressed property you are interested in purchasing, you can bet that the seller wants to get the property sold!

It is vital to work with an experienced and well trained real estate professional when you consider purchasing a distressed property. We can help you determine if this type of purchase is the right choice for you and your family. We can help you navigate and overstep the common pitfalls in these types of purchases. We will be there throughout the entire purchase to make the process as stress free as possible. We look forward to working with you!

Twitter

We are excited to announce that Redsign.com now offers live updates for cities throughout Utah on our site.  If you haven’t visited our area profiles yet, or if it has been a while,  you might want to take a look. We are excited to now offer real-time updates about cities, builders, and more!

This new content will keep our site up to date with exciting news, updated city program information and events. Just setting up the Twitter feeds yesterday I learned of lots of exciting and fun things happening all over the valley. For example on the South Jordan real estate page I learned about the End of Summer Bash being held at the district tomorrow, complete with a Chalk Art competition! Sounds like a fun (and free!) way to spend a friday evening to me.

The Draper Real Estate page was updated with information announcing the Ebay is expanding in Draper and is expecting to add another 2,200 jobs over the next few years.

On the West Jordan Real Estate page I learned that the city (well the entire valley actually) is requesting that everyone turn off their sprinklers because of a punctured aqueduct (yikes!).

There were dozens more updates with information on free movies in the park, farmers markets, local voting dates, park closures and so on. Staying connected with Utah real estate  has never been easier!

Look forward to even more twitter and rss feeds to be added to our page in the coming weeks. In the mean time, be sure to follow us on twitter @theredsign.