Buying & Renting Multiple homes During H1B

[ragool25]

Hi All,
I am on my H1B Visa, Just wanted to know weather I can buy properties, fixing them and renting them and collect rent money, so far I bought 2 homes for cash deal and made upper fix and rented them out, can I add more and more properties on my name during my H1B Visa, is there any restrictions.

Any advice for me.

Thanks for reading my thread.

Regards,
Ragool.

[shabba]

Good! you are contributing to the help the housing market. There is No issue as long has you have a valid status and pay taxes due on the rents.

[ivgclive]

Originally Posted by ragool25

Hi All,
I am on my H1B Visa, Just wanted to know weather I can buy properties, fixing them and renting them and collect rent money, so far I bought 2 homes for cash deal and made upper fix and rented them out, can I add more and more properties on my name during my H1B Visa, is there any restrictions.

Any advice for me.

Thanks for reading my thread.

Regards,
Ragool.

It comes under INVESTMENT not EMPLOYMENT !

[100mya]

Originally Posted by ragool25

Hi All,
I am on my H1B Visa, Just wanted to know weather I can buy properties, fixing them and renting them and collect rent money, so far I bought 2 homes for cash deal and made upper fix and rented them out, can I add more and more properties on my name during my H1B Visa, is there any restrictions.

Any advice for me.

Thanks for reading my thread.

Regards,
Ragool.

Thats a very valid question but I will just take a guess on that, I dont think you can do that on H1b . You can buy/own multiple properties and sell them when you want but I dont think you can rent them and earn money other than your job for which you were granted H1B at the first place. There are other legal ways to do it as foreign investors do buy properties and rent them/earn income but as far as I know its a different procedure (you will have to open a company in some other counter and register it and blah blah).

These are just my opinion I am not a lawyer so best would be to consult a lawyer, there are some of them with whom you can set up a meeting and they dont charge you for the first couple of hours of consultation, so may be you can try them. Please let me know what you find out and All the best!!!!!

[shabba]

You may want to talk to a lawyer/CPA. My friend does that without a business, her CPA tells her how to account for her residence and for other home she rents out. But here is my 2 cents, you are not taking a unauthorized employment. If there is a problem with investment nobody in H1b can earn interest even on savings accounts.

[njverifier]

Originally Posted by 100mya

Thats a very valid question but I will just take a guess on that, I dont think you can do that on H1b . You can buy/own multiple properties and sell them when you want but I dont think you can rent them and earn money other than your job for which you were granted H1B at the first place. There are other legal ways to do it as foreign investors do buy properties and rent them/earn income but as far as I know its a different procedure (you will have to open a company in some other counter and register it and blah blah).

These are just my opinion I am not a lawyer so best would be to consult a lawyer, there are some of them with whom you can set up a meeting and they dont charge you for the first couple of hours of consultation, so may be you can try them. Please let me know what you find out and All the best!!!!!

Dude, it is an investment not a business. If you are thinking that you are supposed to stick to your salary as sole earnings then you are mistaken. Apart from renting a house here are other classic examples of investments: trading stocks, interest on savings etc. You can register a company and start a business on H1, but you as a H1 holder cannot receive income from business unless you work for it, you can always maintain a business account and file taxes in the name of the business. This why US is called "Land of Opportunities". Wake up and know the facts...

[forgerator]

Originally Posted by njverifier

Dude, it is an investment not a business. If you are thinking that you are supposed to stick to your salary as sole earnings then you are mistaken. Apart from renting a house here are other classic examples of investments: trading stocks, interest on savings etc. You can register a company and start a business on H1, but you as a H1 holder cannot receive income from business unless you work for it, you can always maintain a business account and file taxes in the name of the business. This why US is called "Land of Opportunities". Wake up and know the facts...

agreed. It's funny how paranoid and overly careful people on this board are. Nothing wrong with earning from investment property.

[100mya]

Originally Posted by njverifier

Dude, it is an investment not a business. If you are thinking that you are supposed to stick to your salary as sole earnings then you are mistaken. Apart from renting a house here are other classic examples of investments: trading stocks, interest on savings etc. You can register a company and start a business on H1, but you as a H1 holder cannot receive income from business unless you work for it, you can always maintain a business account and file taxes in the name of the business. This why US is called "Land of Opportunities". Wake up and know the facts...

You are absolutely correct and thats what I was trying to explain only thing you missed is reading between the lines. You can do all the above on H1 but you cannot be involved in managing homes/properties etc, investing in shared stocks, savings account etc are completely different . It has to go via a 3rd party (starting a company or hiring a property manager etc). Investments anyone can do, but what i meant was to emphasize that you cannot manage property you have to have someone else do it for you if you are on a h1. Again this is what I know so i would be glad to hear it what is right and wrong...

Note: please note that my intention is to have a healthy discussion.

[njverifier]

I am not trying to ridicule you here...

Originally Posted by 100mya

Note: please note that my intention is to have a healthy discussion.

Originally Posted by 100mya

The highlighted line below gives a wrong perception. Renting your own properties is different than managing properties. You can always rent out the houses you bought as long as it is not your primary occupation and you cannot manage properties of others because of your H1 status. Your primary occupation should be the one mentioned in your H1. Rents are just passive income (just like income on your investments). Hope I am clear.

Thats a very valid question but I will just take a guess on that, I dont think you can do that on H1b . You can buy/own multiple properties and sell them when you want but I dont think you can rent them and earn money other than your job for which you were granted H1B at the first place. There are other legal ways to do it as foreign investors do buy properties and rent them/earn income but as far as I know its a different procedure (you will have to open a company in some other counter and register it and blah blah).

These are just my opinion I am not a lawyer so best would be to consult a lawyer, there are some of them with whom you can set up a meeting and they dont charge you for the first couple of hours of consultation, so may be you can try them. Please let me know what you find out and All the best!!!!!

[njverifier]

I am not trying to ridicule you here...

Originally Posted by 100mya

Note: please note that my intention is to have a healthy discussion.

The highlighted line below gives a wrong perception. Renting your own properties is different than managing properties. You can always rent out the houses you bought as long as it is not your primary occupation and you cannot manage properties of others because of your H1 status. Your primary occupation should be the one mentioned in your H1. Rents are just passive income (just like income on your investments). Hope I am clear.

Originally Posted by 100mya

Thats a very valid question but I will just take a guess on that, I dont think you can do that on H1b . You can buy/own multiple properties and sell them when you want but I dont think you can rent them and earn money other than your job for which you were granted H1B at the first place. There are other legal ways to do it as foreign investors do buy properties and rent them/earn income but as far as I know its a different procedure (you will have to open a company in some other counter and register it and blah blah).

These are just my opinion I am not a lawyer so best would be to consult a lawyer, there are some of them with whom you can set up a meeting and they dont charge you for the first couple of hours of consultation, so may be you can try them. Please let me know what you find out and All the best!!!!!

[njverifier]

Originally Posted by njverifier

I am not trying to ridicule you here...




The highlighted line below gives a wrong perception. Renting your own properties is different than managing properties. You can always rent out the houses you bought as long as it is not your primary occupation and you cannot manage properties of others because of your H1 status. Your primary occupation should be the one mentioned in your H1. Rents are just passive income (just like income on your investments). Hope I am clear.

And one more thing you don't have to open a company just to receive rent, You can always give your house to a property management company and they will take care of everything and will collect rent on behalf of you and will pay it to you as per your direction. if it is just one or two properties you can always rent it out directly to the renter. it is legal as long as you show the income in tax returns...

[ragool25]

everyone has their own dimensions of thoughts and ideas, some say yes other says big No, I am going talk to a lawyer.

[njverifier]

Originally Posted by ragool25

everyone has their own dimensions of thoughts and ideas, some say yes other says big No, I am going talk to a lawyer.

That is the best approach. Forums are just public discussions. You can gather information on the forums which may be or may not be reliable. Once you have the information you should turn to your attorney to make decision. That's what I do all the time. I will collect all the information from the forums, this gives me an opportunity to prepare list of questions to ask when I talk to an attorney and I will shoot those questions to my attorney for the right answers.