All Forum Posts by: Tyson Hosey

@Ryan Keenan That's what I did with my first rental property. I bought it as a primary residence and lived in it, did all (most) of the work myself, then when it came time, I just rented it out with a property manager. The loan I got was an FHA loan so I had to live in there for more than a year, but I ended up living there for about 5 (my goal was 3 years...oops). But yeah if you're planning to live in it while you fix it up.. the bank treats it as a normal mortgage, assuming you're there for longer than the 1 year time-frame (or whatever the stipulation for that type of mortgage is)

Hey BP. 

I'm kinda freaking out about taxes. I just started real estate investing half way through the year and am about to buy another rental. I created an LLC a couple of months ago in preparation for the second unit, but haven't used it yet. I've talked to a CPA who is REI minded, but since I just started with REI, I haven't been keeping good records of what's a business expense and what isn't. I work at a bank and have no trouble pulling statements and such. But I'm concerned about the things I don't have receipts for that I'd like to deduct, plus I don't know how I should approach future deductible purchases.

Are there some CPA's out there that could help me with a just a couple of questions to set my mind at ease? I'm not trying to have a full sit-down conversation, just a few things here and there that need to be addressed so I can sleep at night...haha (kinda kidding, kinda not)

Thank You!

@Johnathan Boyle @Account Closed

Thanks for the responses so far. Its good to know that there's a good reason I'm in between on this. I want to keep the relationship by making sure the agent gets paid, but not pay for something that the seller should be paying. But I don't know the rules or what is standard.

So, I'm purchasing a property from another investor off market, and the agent is representing both sides of the deal. He had a seller who needed a buyer for his property and I came in as a buyer needing a property. Before we went under contract he sent me a Compensation Agreement to sign saying that I would pay commission on the transaction.

I'm a newbie, to be fair, but I've never heard of a seller paying commission and I've talked to an experienced Real Estate Agent who said in 10 years she's never had a buyer pay commission.

I don't want to offend my agent (who currently manages one of my rental properties), but I feel like this isn't standard. Should I walk away? Should I pay it to maintain the good working relationship? Am I getting the wool pulled over my eyes or just not understanding how the process works?

@Timmi Ryerson OOOOO very good point. Forgot about that one. Most of them will brag about which one they use, but yeah, if they don't have one at all....not sure that I would want to do business with them. Particularly because I need a good statement to show to my CPA, and if they don't have a portal of so sort, I'm not gonna get that, or I might have to do it on my own. Either way...not good.

@Robert Gilstrap very true. I like the question about how many they personally own. I never asked that question to mine, but not too long after I started using them I found out that he had just closed on a Multi-Family unit as an investor. Which is good information to have, but like you suggest, maybe getting that info BEFORE we start working together would be best.

The hidden fees thing: you're absolutely correct, no business regardless of occupation is going to tell you those. So I feel like it's best to find out what a "hidden fee" would be and just ask them about it straight up. And finding out what is and isn't something that would be considered a "hidden fee" is something that you have to do either through experience or here on BiggerPockets.

@Norman Lai I love all of those. Most of them are questions that I discovered on my way to finding the PM company that I use and love. But you brought up a couple that I hadn't thought of such as (can you use vendors that I suggest and the insurance question). I'm actually going to call them tomorrow and ask about the insurance haha

I started asking what their turn-over time was. I want to know their success rate with getting tenants in the property.

Hey BP,

I have a property management company that takes care of one of my rentals and they are great. I plan on using them on as many as I can before they get overwhelmed haha... But I'm introducing someone to BP and REI in general, and the situation has come up where we need to start talking to property management companies in his area. I put together a list of questions to ask a PM company when you first start talking to/interviewing them. These were the questions I came up with after not knowing ANYTHING...AT ALL... about what a property manager even was and had interviewed about 4-5 of them. So without actually giving you my list, I'd like to hear what you feel would be the top 10 initial questions to ask a PM company.

Hey BP, I'm trying to put together a "One-Sheet" to present to lenders, whether it's private lenders, or a small (relationship-based) bank. I have a current rental property that is performing, and I have a goal in mind of my next deal or two. At this point I just don't know what I should include or not include, but also how to design it. Should it have similar attributes to a resume'? Bullet points?

Also, I'd look at property management in Illinois.. I haven't done much research, but looks like a lot of the PM's work on St. Louis, but once you get across the river might not be as prevalent..But you're also down south in Illinois, I know even less about it down there, (even though that's where I'm from - SEMO)