Condo rental-establishing basis

[Renee456]

I acquired a condo which I am now renting. Therefore, I need to establish my basis for depreciation purposes (i.e., the value of "land" and the value of "improvements"). My cpa told me that in a condo you don't own the land so the value is zero. But when I found out that he was wrong on a number of other issues, I questioned this & starting asking around. Long story short the answers were: (1) zero land value; (2) you own a portion of common elements which includes land & buildings, so multiply the condo association's land & building value by the percentage I own (.71%) for "land value"; (3) just take the tax assessor's apportionment (50-50). I have read the IRS's materials and they do not address this issue. Since I plan to rent this property for a long time, I want to make sure I get this right (as I can only go back and amend 3 years for any deductions).

 

[tranquility]

Basis is a very fact specific factual issue. You need to see a tax professional to help you determine. You have not given enough facts to determine *your* basis.

 

[Renee456]

I agree that basis is a very fact-specific issue. And I have hired a cpa. All the relevant issues have been discussed and resolved up to this point. I have had an appraisal done to establish FMV on DOD. The last hurdle is allocation of this basis number of $200,000 into "land" or "improvements". My question is this: Does a condo owner own land? My cpa said No. So, in my case, "land" should be $0 and "imrovements" should be $200,000. I am not so sure. That's why I am posting the question here. If a condo owner does own "land" then I go from there as indicated above.