Looking for a variety of REI professionals in Portland/Lewiston Maine
To the professionals of all REI-involved industries in the Portland-Lewiston MSA,
I'm headed to the States January 21 through to January 28th and would love to set up meetings with fellow investors, CPAs, law professionals, real estate agents, and conventional/private lenders in Portland, Auburn, and Lewiston Maine. The purpose of my trip will be to begin networking and setting up accounts, applying for licenses, and beginning relationships prior to migration scheduled in March though I can only do it permanently upon the end of a litigation I've begun in Australia and the sale of my property here due to be listed in early Feb.
Upon migration I wish to immediately start investing in A/L or Portland. In order to successfully begin investing I need to begin relationships with...well, everybody in every part of the process. I've settled on a plan of leasing a property for 6-12 months whilst purchasing one or two 3/4 units from a local wholesaler over the period, with the intention of moving in to one of the units upon the end of the lease. The initial properties may be in either Portland or Lewiston/Auburn, though in future I will focus on A-L.
As a result I'm looking to arrange meetings between Jan 22nd and Jan 27th with the following members of the local REI community:
-Investors in the areas of Portland, Lewiston, or Maine. I'd love to chat with you, even if not specifically strumming up business for either of us though i'd be delighted if it did, and;
-A private or hard money lender (or several) with which i'd love to discuss what specific requirements of theirs I would have to fulfill in order to begin an effective relationship, and;
-A wholesaler (or several) with a reliable source of 3/4-unit buildings that I can begin with upon arrival, and;
-A law professional (I'm not sure the specific title) who can assist me in properly setting up a LLC, insurance, and rental agreements/boundaries, and;
-A CPA knowledgeable about Aus/US tax who can perform both of my individual tax returns and the tax of the LLC.
I would also love recommendations regarding tradespeople and local meetups that might not be listed on BP. I'm staying in Portland and intend to visit Lewiston/Auburn during my trip for a day or two and would love to match up with locals there as well.
If anyone would be interested and available, i'd be thrilled to catch up and chat during this first foray with a mind to begin a working (and/or friendly) relationship by second quarter. Please don't hesitate to send recommendations if you know anyone who suits this criteria, I look forward to meeting you all!
As a CPA, the only situation I can really speak to is that professional. If you're looking for somebody that can do both the Australian and the US tax return, you'll want to set up a meeting with the international powerhouses - Deloitte, Price Waterhouse, Ernst & Young or KPMG. You can do that from either one of their US offices or one of their Australian offices. These are the folks that will have staff that can handle both, although it's highly unlikely it will be the same staff person doing both. Becoming sufficiently competent in one country's tax laws to be able to effectively advise clients can be pretty challenging. Becoming an expert in two or more is a truly gifted and special (read: expensive) individual.
Instead, you may want to look for a quality US CPA that has strong experience in working with Australians that can also refer you to a competent tax professional in Australia. Or vice versa. There are a lot nuances to the US/Australia tax treaty that are pretty important to get right, such as special treatment (from the US side) of your SuperAnnuation account.
The mis-matched tax years (US ends December 31, Australia ends June 30) causes a lot of issues with getting income reported correctly on both sides of the Pacific, so you'll also want somebody who is used to looking at and understanding Australian tax forms and information and knowing the right questions to ask.
A good CPA that is used to working with international folks will/should have a network of other tax pros across the globe that they can recommend and refer to.
Best of luck on your trip. I hope it all works out for you.
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CPA Colorado (#23225)
- Clue Business Services, Inc.
- Podcast Guest on Show #244
Those were two of my major concerns regarding finding a CPA; the first being the different tax year frames, and the second being how unlikely that a US-based accountant would be sufficiently knowledgeable (and as-importantly certified) in such a small, faraway country. I graduated majoring in accounting (in Aus) and attempted to join Deloitte back in 2018 as it was the best path to an E3 visa but unfortunately they weren't at the time interested in hiring or training dual-certified CPAs. A small accounting firm (PCAs) was the closest I could find in Portland during my last visit but its' certainly worth trying again with the multinationals - All good advice, and thanks for your input, suggestion, and sentiment! @Linda Weygant
