Last night was a big waste of time. I took off work early so that I could attend my first Real Estate Seminar. It was on how to analyze deal. I was so excited. It was held at UCSD, which is like 2 hours away from my house and with traffic a lil longer. So, I get to the school and there is no sign of this seminar. I look at the agenda paper I printed out and there is no venue info on it. I found out the second part of that paper, I left in my printer. However, I figured with the agenda paper with the speakers name and topic, etc. someone would know about this seminar. NOPE!. It was like a top secret event I guess. I was shocked there was no sign posting, like other events had last night to direct people to the seminar. The info. lady couldn’t find it. I look for a hour and a half for this thing ??? So, was not happy. I think I’m going to stick to local seminars, so if it’s not really being promoted I can just go home…quickly.
Lady Bird-dog
I still go to Real Estate Seminar’s
I could learn just one little thing and that is OK with me.
They also help keep the juices flowing.
Keep yourself moving forward down the road to success…
Bruce
these seminars are like hunting for gold; one “nugget” is all I hope for, but some days no nuggets are found.
Thanks for the reply. I do plan to go to seminars but just a little closer to my house. I also believe if I can just get one little thing out of a seminar it is worth it. That is why I was still willing to pay even though I was 2.5 hours late(if I could have found it) 
Seminars are great, you can always learn something that will stick with you. There is a seminar about probate tomorrow night in a distant city from where I live and its over an hours drive for me. If I learn something from it, it will help my rei in the end. Also remember are you tracking all your mileage for next years tax write off?If you are driving 2 hours up and 2 hours back, around 120 miles for example.You have 240 miles in your log book which at the end of the year can easily write off thousdands of dollars as long as you keep good records. steve
What are you right it off against??? Just driving to a REI seminar is not tax deductible by itself
its a business trip right?
steve
Only if you have a “business”…i.e., income from properties, etc. You cannot just write off business mileage because you drove your vehicle to a seminar.
Keith
Keith
thanks for setting me staright. I am a ‘new business’ owner of an LLC. So in this case would it come under seminar/continuing studies then?
steve
in general, an LLC is by default a disregarded tax entity (you can take a corporate election, but its has its own set of issues). Therefore, real estate investor are going to be using Schedule E of 1040 (Rental Real Estate) or Form 550 (Investment income). As such, you will need to allocate your expense (such as auto, etc) towards individual properties. There is no “bucket” for general expense, etc.
Some people like to try and use Sch C of 1040; however I would encourage you to read the page C-2 of the instructions carefully. For many individuals, real estate investment activities will not met the criteria and be treated as passive activity (I.e. Sch E or Form 550)
Get your Real Estate License and you can write it ALL off. 