All Forum Posts by: Brandon Heimsoth

I purchased a 4-plex last December.  I'm finally to the point of organizing my business finances.  I've purchased Quicken Home Business and Rental Property to do this.  My two goals are to 1) make it easier on my CPA with a simple yearly report to help with my taxes and 2) monitor my profit/loss/etc.  All I have to do is itemize/split the monthly transaction from the property management statement (in addition to expenses I pay myself).

First off, how do I label owner contributions?  I could create my own custom category.  But, I thought Quicken would be refined so I'm wondering if I'm missing something.  What about owner withdrawals?

Secondly, what about security deposits?  I don't see a built-in category for that either.  There is a "Security Deposit Forfeit".  Again, I could create my own custom category but I'm wondering if I'm missing anything. 

Any other guidance would be appreciated from this novice bookkeeper.

I have chosen not to tell my coworkers. For one, I don't want to explain why I did it (I want out of corporate world). This could cause lack of advancement if they know I want out (even though it will be 10+ years). I know people near retirement that were being nice and announced retirement well in advance. They admitted that was dumb because it was basically giving company permission to give 0% raise.

You're ahead of me on the personal loans (I only have two). But, I've heard some lenders have a hard limit of 4. Find a different lender that will get to the Fannie/Freddie limit of 10. You may also be reaching a DTI limit.

Let me play devil's advocate.  I used to own and live in Florissant.  I left because I was surrounded by renters that did not take care of their property.  Trash was everywhere, lawns were nearing my knee, etc.  So, I believe the city is trying their best to keep this from ballooning to a bigger problem.  They're probably overstepping but there are a lot of people there that truly care about their community.

Good discussion. I was just making sure if there was something I was missing. I imagine if REI was all you did, it would be a lot easier.

@Caleb Heimsoth, @Steven Hamilton II as far as the $150k goes, is that household or individual income?

Quick survey here. I heard a quote from Rich Dad's tax advisor Tom Wheelwright saying something like "if you're investing in real estate and you're paying taxes, you're doing it wrong." So, do you pay taxes? How many units do you own? Are you offsetting w2 income? I imagine there is a certain number of units before you've offset all working income.

Welcome to BP! I believe House hacking is a great way to start. You can get in with little money down (3.5% with FHA) and have the others pay the mortgage. Now, I've never done it...just got into Rei and already have an established family/home. Good look on your quest!

The whole rule about not being able to withdrawal until 59 1/2 isn't entirely true. I read this article the other day. I knew about the 72t / equal payments rule but I didn't know about the 55 year old rule when leaving your employer. Check out this article from USA TODAY: 4 ways to tap your retirement funds earlier than normally allowed https://usat.ly/2tu61vh All in all, I believe in diversification but I understand some people have bad (high fee) plan. I have a pretty good plan so I'll continue to invest in it for match and diversification.

Most 401k plans allow you to take a loan out with the longest payout term of 5 years. No penalty. You will pay interest but it will be to yourself. For Roth IRAs, you can withdrawal all deposits I believe (because you've already paid taxes on them). Any value earned must remain.

Something similar happened on a unit of mine 6 months into a 1 year lease. My property manager gave them two options. 1. Pay 2 months rent. 2. Keep paying rent until end of lease or until new tenant moves in. In both options, they lose their deposit. I'm not sure you want to put anything in your lease. Legally, they're obligated to finish the lease. Then, you can give them options and be the nice guy. In my case, they chose option #1. Hope that helps.