Garmin
Posted on April 10, 2007 - Filed Under Personal |
| In the Cast Away, Tom Hanks had Wilson. |
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In Corpus Christi, I had Garmin |
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.But no beard.
When Cat arrived at my hotel, with her list of 13 properties, I suggested we bring Garmin along.
Flying to Corpus Christi was my first business trip. I have traveled before, for my "9 to 5" job but this trip was different. This was for my affairs, my project, my future. I was definitely elated to see the opportunities that Texas was to offer.
We spent the day, going from property to property. It was a mixture, per my request, of SFH, duplex, triplex and four plex. All were around $150,000 or less. Garmin took us effortlessly from location to location without any problems.
If a question was lingering, Cat pulled out her cell phone and got the information required. Technology is great.
Anyone who has spent a day, viewing multiple properties, will tell you the entire experience can be exhausting. But not for this guy. I was not tired in the least. And while I may be able to push myself for extended periods of time, I cannot ask the same of those working with me.
After an entire day of driving around Corpus Christi, a nice dinner was in order. Cat had already taken me to a superb Mexican restaurant for lunch. Deep fried eggplant, stuffed with all kinds of seafood goodies. For dinner, something more Texan. What was needed was a sampling of the local cuisine. And with any luck, local ingredients.
Quail eggs, tossed in bar-be-que sauce. Broiled duck breast with a grand mariner, demi-glace sauce. Add to that some Alexander Valley, to keep the pallet nice and clean. For desert, Godiva chocolate torte with a strawberry coulis. A nice Tawny 20 to cap the evening off.
So maybe duck is not exactly Texan. But I couldn’t resist. Since I was eating it in Texas, I figured a little smudging would work; I declared it Texan.
I needed some time to process what I had seen, what I had learned. More importantly, which property to put a bid on. This was no longer a "sight unseen" transaction. Suddenly it had all become very much real. I had a good feeling about this area; things were flowing smoothly.
One of the properties I had viewed would be mine.
If you liked that post, then try these...
Inside the Studio #2 on October 26th, 2007
The .
At the final hour on February 15th, 2008
Taking a vacation day every now and that is a good thing.
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5 Responses to “Garmin”
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Deductability of trip
FYI - The trip can be considered a deductable expense if either:
A. you were there managing property you already own (doesn’t apply in this case)
or
B. you make attempt to purchase a property in good faith but the purchase falls through
So I would consider making good faith offers/counter offers on several properties where some succeed and some fall through.
BTW: If all of your offers succeed then the trip is NOT deductible or even depreciable. It instead adds to your tax basis in the property(s).
-Greg
PS: Business meals are only 50% deductable
PPS: I believe that the deductions would be on schedual E and would be subject to passive loss limits.
PPPS: Recommended books / products on real estate taxes: John T Reed’s book and John Hyre’s KISS product.
Garmin? Garmin! I like Garmin! I own Garmin stock! It’s up 84.5% since I purchased it. Garmin will be at 100% before your story will be at 100%.
Greg, are you a tax guy? Holy Cow! What I do is keep the receipts and let my tax guy sort it out.
Mikki, decidedly you were the one who sneaked a peak at the Christmas presents. Or the one who read the last page of a mystery novel first.
What I’ve covered in the past 9 days is actually 2 and a half months worth of stuff, boiled down. If this was happening “live”, you would be really hurting!
I’m not a tax guy. Just a guy whose deductible trip turned out not to be who is passing the lesson on to others.
I have NEVER read the last page of a book first. But, I’ve never bought a book in installments either! Those insane authors that write trilogies (or worse, series!) don’t get my money until the whole thing is written.
Nor did peak at gifts before the big event. However, I never got one gift per day…
I don’t mind waiting for the whole story to read all at once. I do mind reading a bit, then having to wait a WHOLE day for the next installment.
If I see you before you finish this story, I’m going to choke it out of you!
