All Forum Posts by: Sean O'Keefe

@Kevin Garcia A lot of our larger customers use Buildium and we like that they have an Open API so we can import data for taxes.

Yes, you need to contact the lender/bank. 

@Jamal Jones Here's a good, one.Keep in mind the main purpose of the LLC is to limit your personal liability. Most buy-and-hold real estate investors will set one up in addition to having umbrella insurance. Keep in mind, that if you plan to do flips the income is taxed differently then a buy and hold and as a result, most flip investors select the S Corp instead of LLC.
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*This post does not create a CPA-client relationship. The information contained in this post is not to be relied upon. Readers are advised to seek professional advice.

@Alex Olson is right. You can't do a 1031 exchange on flip. 
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*This post does not create a CPA-client relationship. The information contained in this post is not to be relied upon. Readers are advised to seek professional advice.

@Kylene Heykants "The large size firms charge between 8% - 15% of rental income" according to this article. When I google Alberta it doesn't look like it varies much between Providences. 

@Chanel Shomali there are a few here commenting on BP tax channel: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51

@Leah Larson - Remer sorry to hear that you aren't getting any responses. This may be because most of us are busy with the 10/15 filing deadlines. 

 I’m not recommending myself. I’m simply pointing out that you might have better luck in a couple weeks when most of the CPAs will b less busy. For people looking for CPA, right now, it’s likely they’re unaware that most of us are busy until after the 10/15 filing deadline and don’t have bandwidth to interview new clients

Yes, LLC is generally the best way to approach this. Make sure the lender is comfortable with LLC or doing a "quit claim" immediately after closing the deal.

Keep in mind, IRS filing deadline for LLC is 3/15 (not like personal, and States may have different filing deadlines also depending on where you incorporate and investment property location)

For most of us, we appreciate clients bringing us in early before they've made any major decisions (like setting up an LLC, placing property in service, or selecting bookkeeping software). This gives us the opportunity to help them avoid mistakes that are messy and expensive to resolve. That being said, there is already a lot for new real estate investors to deal with when they buy their first property so CPA isn't necessarily top of the list of things to get done. I understand :)

Some mistakes to avoid or chat to CPA about
For example, a common question is "Should I get LLC or not?". Generally, when you initially set up the LLC it doesn't have any credit history and as a result, lenders won't lend to you if they do the rates will be higher because it's a commercial loan (and the LLC has no credit history). If you plan this out before setting up LLC you may be able to avoid having an LLC that you can't benefit from because it doesn't own the investment property.

Also, a dedicated business bank account to avoid co-mingling personal and rental property funds - very messy to untangle at the end of the year after several months have gone by and you forgot what expenses / income was personal vs. business.