Living in the US and renting out property in Canda

[jonesg111 0]

Well, its me again. As most of you know I got my visa back at the end of March. The day it came in we put our place up for sale and priced it very aggressively. Since then we've had a ton of showings but not one single offer! I've talked with our real estate agent about what can be done and he said basically, nothing. Our condo is almost brand new, in excellent shape and priced really well.

All that being said we're now up against the wall with my wife's visa expiring at the end of July and myself having to cross the border and at least activate my visa by Sept. So what we're thinking of doing is renting out our condo for a year. This way we can move together and then hopefully get it sold next spring.

So here are the questions... what are the tax implications? I've done a fair bit of research already but most of it pertains to renting property in Canada and also living here. I think that it would be similar except I would be declaring income from the property in Canada and also writing off the expenses of it on my US returns, right?

Those of you with landlord experience, what are some of the things that you look for in good renters. I know there are laws in regards to what you can and cannot base your decision on, but there must be a few indicators.

Thanks

[trailmix 77]

Hi Jones,

So you are finally planning to move, good stuff.

I just wanted to mention on thing - the whole crossing the border and using your visa thing - because you both live in Canada you actually can't do that. That whole thing about "reestablishing domicile no later than the intending immigrant". So your wife must enter the U.S. with you.

Anyway, not familiar with the whole rental property situation, but good luck with selling your condo!

Edited June 20, 2010 by trailmix

[jonesg111 0]

Hi Jones,

So you are finally planning to move, good stuff.

I just wanted to mention on thing - the whole crossing the border and using your visa thing - because you both live in Canada you actually can't do that. That whole thing about "reestablishing domicile no later than the intending immigrant". So your wife must enter the U.S. with you.

Anyway, not familiar with the whole rental property situation, but good luck with selling your condo!

Oh no, we would be going at the same time or she would be going before me.