From the founder

The $400K threshold

The number one question we get: how much house does this take to be worth it?

Bola Akinsanya · Founder, Unlevered · August 7, 2026

The most common question we get from clients and their CPAs is simple. How much house is needed for this to be worth it? How much cash do I need? Is there an income level below which this is not worth the effort? Our rule of thumb is four hundred thousand dollars and up, on both income and investment.

Here is why. On a one million dollar short-term rental, a cost segregation study that cost a few thousand dollars unlocked two hundred fifty thousand dollars in first-year deductions. That is about fifty dollars of deductions for every dollar spent on the study. Those deductions turned into roughly sixty-five thousand dollars of federal tax savings in year one.

Below that line the math still technically works. It just stops being worth your time. Under about four hundred thousand dollars of income there is not enough tax to offset, and under about four hundred thousand dollars of property value there is not enough basis to accelerate. Above it, the impact can be significant.

None of this is tax advice, and the exact line depends on your own facts: your income, your marginal rate, the property, and how much of it is land versus building. Your CPA confirms the numbers before you rely on them. The rule of thumb just tells you whether it is worth having the conversation at all.

The threshold is really a question about cost versus benefit, so it helps to see what a study costs and why the range is so wide next to the deduction it produces.

If you are above the line and want to know what a real study would find, our individual portal is at unlevered.io/hello. Bring your CPA.