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All Forum Posts by: Karina Busch

Karina Busch has started 7 posts and replied 40 times.

Post: HATE Bookkeeping. HELP.

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20
Quote from @Bonnie Low:
Quote from @Karina Busch:

Hello BP community. I am a newer investor with a few properties now, started my LLC in Jan 2024. I have a Bookkeeper for my farm expenses/income but I am not sure if she has any RE experience and has not gotten back to me if she will do it or not as she has suffered a health crisis this year and has cut back some.

Basically, I get very overwhelmed by the bookkeeping side of things. IDK why, I am an intelligent professional but as soon as I get behind I just kind of give up and get more behind. What is the best strategy for me to look into? I am small still so don't want to spend a fortune but am happy to pay for this service. BUT I feel like I still have to have a ton of involvement especially with multiple rehabs etc, to dictate what expense is from what property and what the purchase was for etc. to be sure deductions and depreciation are correct. Am I overcomplicating this? Any advice is appreciated. I enjoy looking for deals and figuring out how to rehab the properties etc, but I hate the accounting side. Any advice is appreciated. PS: I have an excellent CPA, not looking to change, just looking to figure out a better process to streamline expense/income tracking and allocation to different properties. Thanks!


 Hi, Karina. I don't enjoy bookkeeping either but I couldn't stomach paying a professional bookeeper and paying for a QB subscription either. I switched to Baselane for my banking and bookkeeping and it's been surprisingly simple to do it myself. Baselane was built by real estate investors for real estate investors so it's really tailored to this particular business. They get it and they've made a platform that speaks directly to what we, as investors need. It is very simple to set up bank accounts, assign virtual credit cards, and tag revenue and expenses so you can stay on top of it. I highly recommend you check out.


 Thank you, I will!

Post: HATE Bookkeeping. HELP.

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20

Hello BP community. I am a newer investor with a few properties now, started my LLC in Jan 2024. I have a Bookkeeper for my farm expenses/income but I am not sure if she has any RE experience and has not gotten back to me if she will do it or not as she has suffered a health crisis this year and has cut back some.

Basically, I get very overwhelmed by the bookkeeping side of things. IDK why, I am an intelligent professional but as soon as I get behind I just kind of give up and get more behind. What is the best strategy for me to look into? I am small still so don't want to spend a fortune but am happy to pay for this service. BUT I feel like I still have to have a ton of involvement especially with multiple rehabs etc, to dictate what expense is from what property and what the purchase was for etc. to be sure deductions and depreciation are correct. Am I overcomplicating this? Any advice is appreciated. I enjoy looking for deals and figuring out how to rehab the properties etc, but I hate the accounting side. Any advice is appreciated. PS: I have an excellent CPA, not looking to change, just looking to figure out a better process to streamline expense/income tracking and allocation to different properties. Thanks!

Post: Buying from Wholesaler- Sellers Disclosure?

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20
Quote from @Russell Brazil:

1) Only about half the states require disclosure. The other half are caveat emptor.

2) When buying through an individual that likely isn't following state real estate laws already since they likely are in violation of the state brokers act....you probably arnt getting a disclosure even if state law requires it.


 Thank you, that makes sense. I figured that was the case but just curious!

Post: Buying from Wholesaler- Sellers Disclosure?

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20

Getting ready to buy a very distressed property through a wholesaler. I have family in construction who have looked at it and feel it has fairly solid bones and I like the location and think it's on the way up. This is not my first huge rehab so I am ok with that and the price. But is there no requirement for a seller's disclosure in this case? He has a contract with the seller which will then be assigned to me for a fee. There is no other paperwork. Obviously I will have a title search and get title insurance but I assumed they would still be required to fill out a SD but maybe not. Obviously the place is totally derelict so not much to disclose (basically check yes to everything being wrong lol) but I was just curious for the future. Thanks!

Post: Best Strategy for Starting Out in Real Estate

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20
Quote from @Doug Kirk:

Newbie in the North Central Ohio area (Lucky me) who hopes to have about somewhere around 6 digits near the new year to start out with and cannot decide which way to go.  I make good money and am single. Goal is to try for 8-10 Properties and try to leave my W-2 in 3-5 years.  I can't decide whether to be aggressive on buying and paying down one or spread on a couple and pay down slower.  I want to limit my risk as not knowing where the economy may be going.


I'm in a similar boat, also 50 with good paying W-2 looking to build a portfolio to help replace that sooner than later. Appreciating everyone's advice and wish you the best moving forward Doug!

Post: Working with Agent- what to expect?

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I had a heart to heart with my agent after looking at some properties yesterday and I think she has a better idea of what I am looking for and how to help me better moving forward. We put in an offer yesterday that was accepted so hopefully this is a good step in the right direction. 

Post: Working with Agent- what to expect?

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20

Hello,

I'm trying to figure out what I should be expecting/getting from my agent? I am a newer investor and starting late (50). We have purchased a few properties over the last couple years paying cash but now trying to have a more concise plan moving forward since finding BP. Everyone on here says get a RE agent to work for you and help find/facilitate deals. 

Long story short I signed a Buyer's Agent agreement with an agent who we had purchased through (they were listing agent on one we bought) and liked. The first week they sent me a few properties on the MLS but since then it has just been me sending them properties I'd like to see and them arranging the showings. Largely that is ok but honestly I want someone who can tell what is a good investment and will steer me in that direction not just me saying hey I like this one. Or also telling me hey even though you like it this is not a good deal, or location, or whatever. 2w ago I messaged to see a property but they were out of town for two days and then I was. 10d ago I asked about seeing another property which wasn't available to look at until this week. It's been crickets. No follow up on either one.

I know everyone is very busy so I haven't been pushy but I feel like I am not really getting any value from this relationship. The contract is for 6m! It has been about 2m and we have looked at 3 homes now. Two were not good investments, one I liked ok but needed a ton of work and I thought was overpriced. They dropped the price and went under contract before I could make an offer. Maybe they think I'm not a serious buyer? Or they are just too busy? I am a high NW professional with excellent credit, pre-approved and can also make cash offers, and own 6 properties currently.  

Is this normal? Just not a good fit for me? Is it appropriate to request to be released from the contract so I can look for someone else or just go it alone like I have in the past? I don't want to be a needy, unreasonable client but I would like to work with someone who I feel like is in my corner and trying to help me move forward. Would love people's thoughts on this and experiences. Thanks!

PS: Looking to stay local. Not ready to be investing in faraway lands and I feel like there are good opportunities near me for growth. Thanks!

Post: What Interest Rates Are You Seeing?

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20
Quote from @Dina Schmid:
Quote from @Karina Busch:
Quote from @Dina Schmid:

We have a winner! I called local banks and found 6.125% with reasonable closing costs. I was honestly dreading doing the calling, but am so glad I did. 

I have to give a shout out to @Michael Baum because I honestly would have never thought to call local banks directly when trying to get a house from OOS. 


 Congrats of being under contract and finding a better loan. I am in KY and have been quoted 6.5-8% on investment properties. Can I ask what bank you found for the 6.125%? That's great!


It's with South Central Bank. Or I should say "was" as the rate appears to have gone up a bit. 


 Great, thanks! That's who I've had the best quotes from so far too. :) 

Post: What Interest Rates Are You Seeing?

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20
Quote from @Dina Schmid:

We have a winner! I called local banks and found 6.125% with reasonable closing costs. I was honestly dreading doing the calling, but am so glad I did. 

I have to give a shout out to @Michael Baum because I honestly would have never thought to call local banks directly when trying to get a house from OOS. 


 Congrats of being under contract and finding a better loan. I am in KY and have been quoted 6.5-8% on investment properties. Can I ask what bank you found for the 6.125%? That's great!

Post: Need at least $15,000 a month on $2 million investment (1031 exchange conversion)

Karina Busch
Posted
  • Posts 40
  • Votes 20
Quote from @Dave Foster:

Thanks for that shout out @Steve K.@Srinivas Reddy, I appreciate how you're working backwards into your desired cash flow. When looking at retirement you'll want to be focused on only two of the IRR calculations primarily - cash flow and depreciation. It's relatively easy to get an IRR of well over 10% in real estate when you include appreciation and amortization of a loan (particularly. amortization of a loan). And it is the loan that really bumps up your IRR. But a loan increases your risks as well.

Your rental right now certainly isn't producing much in terms of cash flow. CA is tough to find great cash flow properties as a % of your real estate value. A $2 mil property owned free and clear is probably going to translate into $70K of NOI a year. Maybe less. If you factor in tax savings from depreciation you'll probably add another $10K to that annually. But that still leaves you way short of your stated goal. If you do the 1031 exchange and use the proceeds as down payments on a couple of properties you'll get the boost in the IRR from amortization and appreciation. But that doesn't necessarily put more cash in your pocket monthly. And it introduces the risk of debt.

A 1031 into a cash property where you can later build and rent an ADU would be awesome. The ADU would give you additional cash flow, depreciation, and appreciation.

But as far as using your tax free primary sale to pay off the rest of your investment mortgage??? Personally I would want to take every tax free dollar off the table I could. Let your investments and 1031 take care of itself. Use the tax free money as another nest egg. You can do anything with it - rent a property, buy the ADU, invest in equities, continue to fund a roth, There's a lot you can do with it rather than trapping it back inside a 1031 exchange.


This was my thought. I am a newer investor, so take it with a grain of salt, but I am curious why you would take the $500k from sale of your primary and pay off the rental mortgage and end up with all that money tied up in the 1031? Is that the actual capital gains on the primary home or just the equity in it, and are you married filing jointly? You likely won't even have to pay taxes on that if your gains are under 500k. I would keep that money separate and just 1031 the other money from the sale of your rental property if you choose to. I don't see how you would benefit from paying down that mortgage before selling it. 

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do with your proceeds! :)