Hire CPA when starting out ?

Question

Hi community,

I  just started out in my real estate journey and current own one rental. I plan to add more rentals in the next few years and will mainly focus on buy and hold. I am currently debating if I need to work with a CPA right away or wait until I have enough properties. I use turbotax for filing my taxes. Majority of my taxes I will own this year are from W2 income and I do not qualify as REP.

With this, what potential value can a CPA bring for me at this stage ?

Jeff Nash · Answer

I’m obviously bias, but I think it is important to establish a relationship with key professionals (lawyer, tax/accounting professional,lenders, etc) right away or early on in your journey.  You don’t know what you don’t know.  There is the risk of making mistakes that might have to be corrected later and will be potentially more costly and take up more of your time when you don’t want it to. So the benefit is proper planning, and you know the rest of the saying. I think too many times people try to do things themselves to save money or cut corners when they should just hire a professional and focus on their operations and things they do well or that are critical to generating revenue.  I say this too as someone who has made mistakes and knows what to recommend to clients not to do.  Mistakes and failures can be important and a part of learning and growing, but you kind of pick and choose the areas to avoid or prevent.