STR Condo Studies: Separate Unit Assets and Common Areas
Define a vacation-rental condo study using ownership documents, unit inventories, association records, and a clear boundary around common amenities.
Begin with the ownership interest
A condo listing can show a pool, gym, boardwalk, parking, and landscaped grounds alongside unit photographs. Those images do not establish the unit owner’s separately allocable basis in every pictured amenity. Start with the deed, declaration, closing documents, and any relevant schedules. Ask the study provider and tax preparer to define the ownership interest included in the engagement before reviewing a benefit estimate.
Create three evidence folders
Keep acquisition records, unit-specific spending, and association information separate. The acquisition file establishes the transaction. The unit file contains owner-purchased appliances, furniture, and interior work. The association file includes declarations, assessments, project descriptions, and explanations of who owns and funds improvements. Keeping these files distinct makes it easier to identify what can actually be reconciled to the owner’s books.
Do not convert an assessment label into an asset class
A payment called capital assessment may fund several purposes. Obtain the notice, project budget, and available explanation from the association. Ask the preparer how the payment affects the owner’s tax records before the study incorporates it. Similarly, ordinary dues should not be silently added to a component schedule. The label in a bank feed is not enough to settle ownership, capitalization, or recovery period.
Illustration: a unit refresh and an association project
An owner installs new appliances while the association repairs shared exterior features. The appliance invoice identifies specific owner-purchased items. The association payment requires a different evidence trail describing the project and the ownership arrangement. Record both, but do not assume they can be combined into one furnishing schedule simply because the owner paid them during the same month.
Ask about lockouts and management programs
A deeded condo may be marketed through more than one booking listing, and a manager may supply or replace furnishings. Map the actual asset inventory to the ownership documents rather than the number of listings. Review who paid for and owns the manager-supplied items. Request the underlying vendor detail for capital charges withheld from owner distributions.
The scope to confirm before engagement
Ask the proposal to identify the unit or ownership interest, known exclusions, records required for common property, and treatment of existing furniture schedules. Confirm who resolves association-document questions and whether additional work changes the fee. This guide organizes the questions; it does not determine the owner’s basis in common elements or replace review of the governing documents.
Download an inventory for owner-controlled assets. Blank organizing worksheet; no login required.
Technical reference: IRS Publication 527: rental-property guidance. Templates and examples are organizational aids, not tax conclusions.