All Forum Posts by: Rebecka Melson

Get a CPA! I am a bookkeeper and have prepared individual and small business taxes (Sch C) for years, and even I don't do corporation or partnership returns.

There are too many tax laws and loopholes to keep track of. A good CPA who specializes in real estate will be able to get you the best return on your money. There are special ways to handle depreciation and deductions that your RE CPA will know that you won't.

Shop around, CPA's range in price from $85.00/hr to $300+/hr, more expensive doesn't always mean better.

It depends on the tenants and what type of leases they have how "maintenance intensive" they are. In a multi-tenant office building you will always have a few difficult ones. The worst are government agencies. NEVER again will I manage a property with government tenants.

The show is still on but it comes on like at 11pm here. I'm in bed by then. All I've seen during the day are re-runs.

RUN!!!!

I have worked for commercial real estate investors for years who had properties in other states. It is possible to manage from out of state, but to do this effectively you need local assistance. We had a local property manager who was an employee of our company plus our own maintenance personnel. We visited the property at least semi-annually, but more if needed.

Unless the leases are NNN, then the Landlord is responsible for most maintenance and therefore you at minimum need a local building engineer that the tenants can contact when needed and check on the property on a regular basis. Even if you have contractors in place to do the landscaping, janitorial, etc. you still need someone local to keep tabs on them. In my experience, if they know no one is watching them then the quality of their services start to lack severely. The same goes for employees, you have to make sure they communicate with you regularly (several times a week) what is going on at the property, otherwise they are probably sitting at home collecting a paycheck and letting your property get run down.

I am a Virtual Assistant and have worked with REI's for about 10 years. Here are some of the things that I do for them:

Prepare and update budgets and timelines
Prepare or review vendor contracts
Make sure W-9s, insurance certificates and lien waivers are received
Assist with preparation of due diligence items
Order surveys, appraisals, inspections etc. and make sure they are received on-time (or sooner)
Review and prepare closing documents for signing (after received from the attorney)
Coordinate closing with broker, real estate agent, title company, lender, etc.
Full charge bookkeeping including A/R, A/P, Financials
Prepare and submit draw requests to Lender's for payment of contractors

There are a lot more things I can do for local clients, such as meet contractors to receive bids, check-in on remodel sites, etc.

Usually the REI's locate the properties and do comps themselves. I may search for additonal information on the property for them and put together financials for them, but they usually already know what they want. [/list]

1/2 up front? Sounds like a good way to get ripped off to me. I usually pay based on percentage of completion with weekly draws. "If" I pay anything up front it is only about 10% of the contract. I have worked with most of my contractors for years and some of them are independents and need money up front to buy supplies, but I only do that with contractors I have experience with.

I won't issue any payment until I have a signed contract, W-9 and insurance certificate on file. I also require lien releases for each payment, they don't get their next draw until I have the lien release for the prior payment. They don't get final payment until all permits and final inspections are in, and I've approved the work. They must submit invoices for payment.

My brother attended the Charleston event to see what it was all about, from what I understand it was pretty much just Richard talking about his company and discussing branching out nationwide but without any real plan in place. My brother received some emails from them asking a bunch of questions, but it never went anywhere.

Spencer, OK (just outside Oklahoma City, OK)

Here is a link from TREC that summarizes what you can and cannot do as an assistant.

http://www.trec.state.tx.us/newsandpublic/publications/specialtopics/unlicensed-assistants.asp