All Forum Posts by: Joshua Thompson

I haven't seen many colleagues using the hourly billing model recently, but there are still firms that do. There are definitely firms in the middle, way above and way below that pricing. The hardest part is finding a firm you trust that balances quality of work and pricing. A great place to start is asking individuals you already know for a referral. This way you'll get a good idea on the firm and pricing. 

A good, knowledgeable tax professional may be expensive compared to your previous accountant, but often times, they are worth it. Sometimes you don't know they are worth it until you work with someone else who filed your return incorrectly, and now you're getting notices, then they will be even more expensive.

Try reaching out to 2-3 professionals in the forums and 2-3 referrals organically.

 Hi Edgar,

Ahh with the additional information, I would say most REPs accumulate their hours on property and tenant management tasks. There are a LARGE number of platforms out there that you can use to perform many of these task in and stay organized. You can click on "Manage Properties" at the top, then go into "Property Management Tools". Here you will see a list of tools most investors use on the management side of things. Keep in mind, tasks performed outside of these platforms could still qualify towards REPS.

Many investors use Excel or Google Sheets to track their time, but you can also use the app REPS Time, created by a BP user

Hi Tyler, congrats to you and your wife on retiring and looking to to start a small business!

If you're looking for someone in person, I have a good friend near Calabasas/Westlake that I could connect you with. Let me know if you're interested and I'll send you his information.

On the contrary, if you're looking to work with someone remotely, I would highly recommend checking out a few of the tax professionals answering questions in the forums. Do a cold outreach to their office's to see if it would be a good fit. Many of the tax professional who are active in the forum have shown their knowledge for you to see.

Either way good luck!

Hi Victor, 

I'm going to assume this is a long-term rental, you actively participate, and you own 100% of it in your LLC. Depending on your W-2 income, the losses produced from this rental property will only be able to offset, at most, $25,000 of your W-2 income. As your income increases over $100,000, assuming you're not married filing separately, that $25,000 amount will decrease. Once your income is at or above $150,000, that $25,000 will most likely be reduced to $0.

To know exactly how much the rental may or may not benefit you, it would be beneficial to speak with a tax professional. There are some great tax professionals here in the forums. There are also many posts related to this that could help you. 

@Jaycee Greene thank you as always sir!!

Hi Kwanza! I have an attorney here in Texas but he may charge more to review and advise on your lease than providing you one he usually uses. If you're interest in a referral, message me and I'll connect you two via email.

You may want to look for a local attorney or company that does a lot of property tax appeals. I know here in TX many companies charge 20 - 40% of the savings as their fee. Unfortunately, I can't say $21k in property taxes on 19 properties is good or bad, but I've seen a number of properties in the GA area (if that's where you're investing, I invest there myself) and many of them are paying about $2,000 - 4,000 per property. 

I've heard people have success with these companies, while others say it's a waste of time.

Thank you Jaycee! Amanda, I agree with Dylan above as you may want to expand your search. However, if you want someone local in Denver, I may be able to find a referral for you. If this is the case, feel free to reach out to me, and I'll see if I can connect you with someone local.

Hi Jamaal,

I can't help you sell your property but I know of two great agents in the DFW area. One I've used personally multiple times and the other took care of my family members. I'm more than happy to connect you with them to do an interview. Feel free to message me and I'll make an email or phone introduction for you.

@Jaycee Greene thank you for tagging me! 

The above posts are spot on. Most tax strategists who understand real estate are typically good accountants, but it doesn't always go the other way. If you believe you're at the time in your life to work with a real estate tax professional, I would highly recommend finding them via:

1. A referral from someone you already know and trust or from your local REIA group.

2. Someone active on BP answering questions in the forums.

3. BP tool above to "Build your investing team" and select a tax pro. Unfortunately, this doesn't always give you the best option as it's a pay-to-play, but it will give you 5 firms to interview and pick the best. 

If you haven't acquired property yet and don't think you will for another 6+ months, I would recommend you sit down and write out your 3 most important tax questions. Then search the forum and YT for information related to those questions. One question may be "will the type of RE investing I want to do actually benefit my tax situation, if not how can it?" 

After doing a bit of research then I would recommend reaching out to that real estate tax professional once you're maybe 3 months away from purchasing your first property, if you haven't already.