So I have read "Own your own Corporation" and researched on the internet. When incorporating, did you all use a corporate lawyer to prepare your entity or do it yourself? Also, do you currently use a lawyer to manage your annual minutes or do them yourself? Does anyone do them at all?

I am located in Eastern North Carolina, so any NC locals please share your NC experiences. Any information is appreciated. 

@Chad Hedgepeth I used an attorney when creating my entities. The entity you choose will depend in part on your business expansion plans and tax strategies--so you might want to chat with an accountant as well. In terms of annual minutes, I do a report quarterly which is very basic, and copy my attorney (he's a friend and likes to know how things are going). I would doubt if there are any LLCs that have an attorney do their annual minutes, but I suppose others on BP will share their thoughts.

Adam where you at the TREIA-Rocky Mount meeting last week?

From my experience as an attorney, if you are at the point in your career/investing that a full corporation filing makes sense, then you should at minimum have an attorney help you set it up. That relationship will be important, especially if this is your first experience with a corp. Also important for NC, a corp has a few annual filing requirements at the state level, so make sure you have an accountant if you are not comfortable handling those. (The annual report is a breeze, just make sure someone can do the tax return.)

Another way an attorney could be helpful is in determining if you actually want/need a corp. There are two basic things you are typically trying to achieve by establishing a business entity, asset protection and tax treatment. Just make sure it is an attorney with knowledge of the tax implications of various elections, or speak with an attorney and an accountant.  

thanks alot!

I created my LLC myself years ago, but when I decided to start filing like an S Corp, I had my CPA file the appropriate paperwork

@Chad Hedgepeth The best thing to do is let the experts do their job, so get a lawyer that specializes in RE to help with your entities and a CPA that specializes in RE to help with tax matters.

I'm a CPA by trade and I STILL hire out my tax/bookkeeping work.  Why would I hire someone else to do the job that I'm perfectly capable of?  It's a matter of time.  In my RE business, my time is better spent doing real estate related activities than researching tax and legal issues and filing the paperwork that needs to be filed quarterly/annually/etc.