Asked by J

When Miriam sent her son Maxwell to college, she purchased a house near campus for $170,000. Empty lots in the area sold for approximately $20,000 at the time. After Maxwell graduated, Miriam decided to keep the house for use as a rental. The fair market value at the time of the conversion was $190,000, and the price of the land had risen to $35,000. What is the basis for depreciation of the house?
$150,000
$155,000
$170,000
$190,000

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
$150,000

Explanation: allocate original cost to land and building at purchase: 170,000 − 20,000 = 150,000 (building basis). For conversion to rental, depreciation basis is the lesser of the adjusted basis or the FMV at conversion (allocated to the building). FMV allocated to building = 190,000 − 35,000 = 155,000, so the lesser amount (150,000) is used.