All Forum Posts by: Natasha Keck

@Allan Ramos Glad you decided to stop lurking and come about.  So much more to learn when you throw yourself into the fray.  Welcome!

@Ken Hobbick Glad you joined the forum conversation on BP.  Welcome.  Plenty to learn in the notes space and self directed 401(k)s!

@Krista Roodzant I use Excel on my desktop computer to track my daily Real Estate Professional Hours.  Pen to a calendar works fine too.

@Peter Bardou I took a class from John Hyre, that taught his "The Real Estate Investor's KISS Guide to Bookkeeping" and then was able to setup my own Quickbooks.  I'm not an accountant, but I am numbers friendly.

@Peter Bardou What about using the web based version of Quickbooks?  Doesn't really matter if you're on a Mac then.  You have to do some big adjustments to the Quickbooks class list and chart of accounts to make it real estate friendly, but then you've got something every CPA knows how to work with.

You can take advantage of passive losses as a Real Estate Professional, but you need to make sure you qualify.  Check out this post from @Amanda Han, CPA to see if you qualify.

The division of your labor and his money looks good.  Tread very carefully, though.  I'd hate for you to bite off more than you can chew and end up sending your father out of retirement.  Whatever he loans you as part of your joint real estate efforts should be a small portion of his retirement funds, not "a good chunk of it".

Congratulations!  Sounds like you've spent the year just outside your comfort zone and grown because of it :)

You'll have to check what is normal in your area.  Used to be 3% (here in California) for the buyer's side agent.  Has dropped to 2.5% lately.  I've heard of seller's agents who will list for 2%.  Kind of depends if it is a buyer's market or seller's market in your locale.

Yes, make sure you've got a reputable third party holding the money until your contract is executed.  There are scammers out there so tread carefully.