Properly vetting service professionals i.e. CPA's or bankers
Hello Bigger Pockets world
I am hoping to get direction on a good way to properly vette a CPA, Banker or Insurance agent. It is a constant struggle to find professionals that are a resource and not simply transactional. For example, ALOT of CPA's will fill out/complete your tax paperwork when asked. They will answer any question asked. I would like to find a CPA that proactively asks me questions to base a strategy on for taxes. To find this out UPFRONT is what I need help with.
If anyone has a good book recommendation I would love to hear that as well.
Thanks for listening.
You need to develop relationships with them. Most bankers are looking for entire relationships not just a transaction. It's a lot more profitable to have the deposit accounts, all loans, ect with one than always shopping for the best rate and terms. Financially yes, that makes the most sense on paper but a lot of people would go with another bank that offers a slightly cheaper rate than their main bank to save on costs but they are giving up the opportunity costs of having their entire global relationship with someone that they are familiar with and know and trust. Is having a banker that will drop everything to take care of you worth it, even if you are paying $50 more per month on your loans? Is it worth it? I would argue yes but I am biased as a banker.
I would also make sure that your banker understands real estate and your goals. Not all banks do and not all own real estate or are investors like yourself. Constantly showing losses on paper can appear to be a bad business for the inexperienced banker while experienced bankers will say yes you are showing paper losses but add back in the interest expense, depreciation, amortization and you are making money. I am a banker in southern Minnesota and would love to connect with you.
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@Bill Pollnow I believe everyone wish's there was an easy way to do this. It has taken me serval cycles to find the right CPA as well.
Bigger Pockets (BP) is a great place to build a list of professional service providers who are familiar with REI. If you want to get a feel for how they approach things, you can read through their post activity and see who has expertise and the clients interest in mind.
For a local referral, there are many WI based REI groups on BP (Appleton, Green Bay & Milwaukee) that you can reach out to. They have lists of vetted providers who will be a safer bet than going to Google.
@Brandon Plombon Understand the relationship aspect. I do work with a banker now local that is great/he does alway work for my deposit accounts. :). I guess my desire is to have more analytical type questions to lean on upfront/for when I AM networking.
@Jason Bott. I do frequent the local REI groups around Appleton. Haven't felt a connection on the Accounting front yet. Again, an analytical type approach/with some upfront questions/requirements to work with would help tremendously.