01 Oct1099 ‘Subcontractor’ vs. W2 ‘Employee’

As a business owner or investor, you probably hire people on a fairly regular basis either for part-time or seasonal assistance or as full time help, and like many small employers, you want to avoid paying payroll taxes, you don’t want the ‘responsibility’ of an ‘employee’ and you choose to pay on a 1099 basis and then call these workers ‘subcontractors’ – but are they really – or do you simply assume they are ‘subcontractors’ because you don’t pay their taxes? What’s the real difference between a W2-employee and someone paid on a ‘1099’ basis?

14 JanInsuring Short-Term & Vacation Rentals

Are you an investor who owns short-term vacation or rental property? Or, are you a homeowner with a nice home located near an area of interest that you lease out periodically for vacationers or weekend travelers looking for a three-day getaway? If so, this question is for you: What’s the difference between a rental home occupied by a full time tenant and another home occupied by multiple tenants, each for a short period of time?

13 JanHow Lenders Commonly Violate State Insurance Law

While lenders may understand the ‘ins and outs’ of loan-to-value ratios, mortgage structures, amortization schedules, and everything else associated with the ‘money’ part of a mortgage loan, they know absolutely nothing about insurance, yet that doesn’t stop them from creating ridiculous requirements which violate state law and then demand that the borrower meet these requirements in order to get the loan. This is wrong.

11 JanThe Danger of “Going Bare”

Not having worker’s compensation in place for your business could cost you a lot more than the policy itself! State law dictates that employers with worker’s compensation cannot be sued by injured employees while those that choose to ‘go bare’ can – and the resulting costs can be extreme.

09 JanUnderstanding Reconstruction Cost

A property’s ‘reconstruction cost’, often referred to as its ‘replacement value’ is the amount that the insurance company estimates it will cost to completely rebuild the property from the ‘ground up’ with like-kind materials at the current labor rate and materials cost for the geographic area in which the property is located.

This amount also includes often disregarded or forgotten ‘soft costs’ such as architectural fees, permitting fees, and the cost of demolishing and/or removing the damaged structure prior to rebuilding.