All Forum Posts by: Peter Mckernan

Hey @Mark Totzke

I currently use Buildium.com and quickbooks. Both are great for filling 1099s. The CPA I use prefers Quickbooks for business accounting, so I typically keep two sets of books; one set is on Quickbooks and Buildium.com. 

There are many other programs that help with Tax filling, what it comes down to is your comfort level and preference. I have linked the thread below for a little more information on the topic! Good luck! 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/81/topics/280...

Full-time Firefighter

Hey @David Fitch

Any other insight on the numbers for this property you bought to get a better idea on the cash on cash, ROI, and cap rate?

@Pete PerezI wish I had that answer! To be honest, your best bet in my opinion is to save a sizable downpayment, and once the market turns you'll be siting in a good place to pounce. You can do some market research on the IE and see how the last two market turndowns went, and see around what time the markets hit rockbottom and then turned back into a great sellers market like it is now. As you know, the market is cyclical and the big downturns happen around every ten years.

That being said, you should always research the market you are headed into. If you look out of state do some research, get into contact with some people out there to partner with, and fly out to that area a few times until you fill comfortable about getting into that market.

@Hakim Sofan

Welcome to the site! There is a Meetup in your city the third Wednesday of every month at Round Table Pizza located at 22722 Lambert St. in Lake Forest. You should try to attend, it is a great place to meet people and network with likeminded people.

As for your strategy, it really depends on the amount of cash, the areas you want to invest in, and the type of investing you want to do. The current buy and hold model is tough since there are a lot of houses that do not meet that criteria. The rehab and flip model is a good way to make money within real estate; however, in the market we are in it would be easier to go with a hard money loan, private investor, or all cash from your own investments to capture the property quickly. In regards to the amount of cash, it depends on the area you are looking to perform these strategies. The price point in Orange County is much higher than San Bernardino County and Riverside County. That is some that you would have to research and look to see what you can afford.

Good Luck! 

@Richard Fields

I agree with @James Wiseon needing one account and utilizing excel for managing the accounting. The more properties you get the more you will want to research and pick a property management software that charges a monthly fee, but make sure you have some more properties under you belt to offset the costs of the software.

@Jacob VillalobosGood question! 

That is just a guessing game for anyone you ask; however, I believe the peak is coming sooner than later. Even economists have trouble telling when the peak, or so called bubble will happen. I went to a real estate convention with some very intelligent real estate investors, and an economist spoke for about an hour and a half about how the real estate bubble was going to be at the end of 2015. As you can see that the real estate market is still as it was before the New Year, and is still trending up.

Everyone can predict it; however, it is too hard to pinpoint the exact time the market will peak and drop into a valley again as it did in 2008.

@Nick D'Alessandro

Welcome to BP! It sounds like you have some big goals and that is awesome!! Also, it looks like you have researched what would work best for you as a real estate investor, which you know can be hard to narrow down to one thing.

I would say, you should look into the property management for a big complex like you suggested, this would give you the flexibility to work without a license (this is true in some states, check Texas). Also, if you want to own buy and hold properties, you might want to get into big apartment complexes later down the road and this could help you with personal experience managing those types of facilities.

Congrats on being debt free in August!

Hello @Marcus Norman

There are quite a few options out there for you to use. It all really depends on your budget to start out. If you have a lot of properties that you manage the decision will be a little easier since you have a bigger budget.

There are cheaper tools as in Cozy.com that does not have many features other than rent collection, and this would be the most minimal software around. The current software I use is Buildium.com, the software is one of the more inexpensive softwares to get for your management systems at $40.00 a month up to 200 units and then the price bumps to $200.00 a month. This software has some hidden fees in ACH transfers, which are charged to the property manager for every ACH transfer a total of $.50 and could be more depending on the days it takes to transfer. If you have a lot of properties this can add up quickly! 

The next software that is pretty expensive is out of the gate is Appfolio.com, which charges  $200.00 fee. This service does not take any money for ACH transfers and the software does charge an extra amount for building a website for your company (this is optional). 

The other software I have heard of is Yardi; however, I have not looked in to this software to see how much the service costs. I have heard go reviews about this service from other bigger property management companies.

Good Luck and I hope this helps! 

Hello @Hector Sapinoso

Welcome to the site!! It's great you are getting into the world of real estate. Where are you looking to invest? Out in Los Angeles, or do you have other areas in mind? Once you have those areas tacked down, then you can start to study those areas to be the person that knows the areas the best and feel the most conformable when a deal comes into those areas! 

Good luck and if you need any help, feel free to reach out to the BP nation!