MARK KOHLERMain Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, Main Street Professionals, LLC · Owner at Main Street Professionals, LLC

The Self Rental Strategy - How I Make My Business Pay Me Rent!

25 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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1:13

In this concise presentation, Mark Kohler outlines his "self rental" strategy for business owners. He proposes purchasing a commercial building through a newly formed LLC that he (and possibly his spouse) fully own, then leasing the property to his S‑Corporation under a qualified lease election. Because the LLC and the S‑Corp share common ownership, the entire building (excluding land) qualifies for 100% bonus depreciation under the IRS’s 5‑, 7‑, and 15‑year property classifications, allowing the owner to write off the building’s cost immediately. Kohler explains that this arrangement makes the business a strong tenant, which satisfies SBA 504 loan requirements, enabling the owner to finance the purchase with minimal down payment. He positions the strategy as a retirement‑building tool for contractors, realtors, dentists, doctors, and similar professionals who currently pay rent to external landlords, encouraging them to become their own landlord.

Chapters

The strategy is called self rental. And what I want to do is go out and acquire a building in the next three and a half months and buy this building in a new LLC and rent it to my S Corp under a dash for election under the IRS. If I have common ownership so I own 100% of this LLC or me and my spouse, then I can bonus depreciate 100%. All the three commandments, 5, 7 and 15 year property, not the land, but I can write off the building. So my friends, if you're in a situation or anybody you might support, consult, work with family that's paying rent to someone else. Ask them who's your best tenant? Who's your best renter? Yourself. So if I can now go down to the bank and the SBA504 loans. Amazing. Because the SBA wants to loan a business owner that is already paying rent to someone else because they see the cash flow supporting the building that they're going to rent to. So the SBA has a specific loan package just for this to help business owners buy their own building. This is how my contractors build retirement. This is how my realtors, my dentists, my doctors, they buy their own building along the way and the down payment could be nominal because they are their own tenant.