Should I open a Business Account when house hacking?

[Jose Batista Abikarram]

Hello BP! I'm house hacking my first property In Rochester NY and basically trying to see your opinions on the following questions/topics. I know doing an LLC whole house hacking is not a good idea based on other post but I'm still wondering about these two.

1) Can I even open a business bank account without an LLC and have all my income and outflows from that account? If I can do you think is worth it?

2) When doing business bank account would you go with a big bank (chase, boa etc), online bank only (axos, azlos,etc) or local credit union?

Thanks!

[Mark W.]

Couple options here. You could open up a 2nd personal checking account and just keep finances separate. Or you could file a DBA (doing business as) form with county for ~$20 and then take that to your bank of choice and open up a business account.

I stay away from the big banks as those tend to be laden with fees, especially with business accounts. Locally, ESL is pretty friendly and fee-free for both personal and small business accounts. And if you're a sole proprietor DBA they'll let you link the accounts so you can transfer money bank and forth as needed.

Would not recommend online only.  As you grow you'll need to handle all forms of payment -- cash, checks, money orders -- and that's easier to deal with at a local branch.