All Forum Posts by: Kristen Ambrose

Totally agree. Automation and systems are key if you want to stay sane and grow your business at the same time. The one tool I couldn’t live without is QuickBooks Online. It gives me a clear view of where every dollar is going, which is huge when you're juggling multiple deals or properties. Transactions sync automatically from the bank, and once you set up a few rules, it saves a ton of time. I also love that you can track income and expenses by project or property, which helps you actually understand your numbers instead of guessing. It connects with other tools too, which keeps everything streamlined. QuickBooks isn’t just helpful for taxes — it helps you make smarter decisions throughout the year.

House hacking and using an FHA loan is a great way to get started. I live in NJ as well and purchased my first duplex in West Long Branch, where I live on one side and rent out the other. NJ is expensive, so I found this to be the best option to get started.

First-time investors should seriously consider house hacking—it’s a much easier barrier to entry and a great way to learn the ropes while living in your investment. Out-of-state investing can be powerful, but it’s a different beast. You’ve got to spend serious time understanding the market and building a trustworthy team on the ground. Otherwise, it can turn into a nightmare fast.

I live in NJ, so I totally understand. My first property was a duplex in west long branch NJ that my husband and I lived in. 

House hack with an FHA loan — that's what I did! I bought a duplex, lived in one unit, and rented out the other. With just 3.5% down, it was an affordable way to get started and have my tenant help cover the mortgage. Great first step if you've got a W-2 lined up!

I use QBO for all of my flip bookkeeping clients. We track flips on the P&L in the following accounts:

Flips - Sales Price, Flips - Purchase Price, Flips - Acquisition Costs, Flips - Rehab Costs, Flips - Holding Costs, and Flips - Selling Costs

If the project isn't sold by the end of the year, we book a journal entry to move it from the P&L to the Balance Sheet. Some of my clients want to track at a more detailed level in which case we use the projects module to track at the same level of detail as the rehab budget. 

Congratulations on taking this significant step towards owning your first rental property! House hacking truly offers unparalleled advantages. The reduced cost of living opens up so many investment opportunities and enriching life experiences that might have otherwise remained out of reach.

When my husband and I acquired our duplex, both units were already occupied. In order to secure our FHA loan, we opted for a strategy known as "cash for keys," where we incentivized one set of tenants to vacate. This approach, commonly discussed on BP, could potentially address your concern regarding below-market rent. You could discuss with your lawyer to determine if this avenue is viable for your situation.

However, it's also worth considering the value of having reliable tenants. If your current tenants are exceptional and the financial numbers still align despite the lower rent, there's something invaluable about the peace of mind. Sometimes, the assurance of having trustworthy tenants that you actually like transcends monetary calculations and contributes significantly to the overall enjoyment of property ownership (especially when you're neighbors).

To reiterate what's been said above, I use the QuickBooks Online Plus subscription for all of my investor clients. We use the Business field for entities and the Class field for properties. Very customizable and can create all the reports your CPA requests. 

If you're just starting out, excel is a great budget friendly option to keep track of your expenses. 

If you have multiple properties, QuickBooks Online is great to connect bank feeds and track expenses. It also has the reporting functionality CPAs are looking for. 

I'd have to agree with the comments above. I do bookkeeping specifically for real estate investors and almost all of my new clients come to me with books done by an overseas bookkeeper that they got fed up with spending so much time answering the same questions over and over. On top of that, their books are still a mess.

The way I've seen this work from a cost savings perspective is to hire an overseas bookkeeper to do the busy work, but also have someone higher level available to answer questions and to record the more complicated transactions.

Having a bookkeeper who knows the ins and outs of real estate investing is key. It's what helps you get crystal-clear reports showing exactly how your business is doing, where it can grow, and where it needs a bit of TLC

@Mary Ciccarelli You actually do not need 2 QBO subscriptions to do the bookkeeping for all of your deals even if you have a separate partner on each one. The only reason you may need another subscription is if your partner wants access to the subscription and you don't feel comfortable with them seeing the other deal info. 

The way to do this is to purchase the Plus subscription of QBO and use the Business field for each of the different LLCs and the class field for each property. That way you can easily run reports for each deal and/or business separately. How this usually works in practice is that one partner owns the bookkeeping process and distributes monthly financial and rehab reports to the other partner so that they're both in the loop without the other partner having to log into QBO. 

Income Digs has a great course on how to do your own bookkeeping in QBO and there's a lesson on how to use the business and class fields for investors that have many LLCs.