Looking for referrals to help me form my LLCs', and a good CPA

[Virginia Stees]

I just got through a 3 day real estate investing class, and my eyes have been opened! I am looking into creating a land trust, an LLC for my soon to be rental home (s), and forming a property management company to manage them all. Is there anyone in the area that can refer me to some honest, knowledgeable and well priced firms that can help me do this right the first time?

[Will Fraser]

Howdy @Virginia Stees!

My two cents from a bit down the road is this:

- Let the horse guide the cart, the dog wag the tail, and any other relevant aphorism . . . . The concept of setting up your management company and building this empire you're envisioning is AWESOME and you may well be there someday . . . a year from now or thirty.  That's awesome!  

However . . . prove it.  To yourself and to the stakeholders and vendors in your life.  Many are the ambitions of people and FEW are they who come to fulfill them.  instead of starting with a grand master plan to build a company in a specific way, I'd recommend running hard for some time in a niche that you believe is an overlap between your head, heart, and hands.  If your wrong you'll sense that in the feedback loop of joy, energy, etc in the midst of doing the work.  Then you can pivot into a different niche and test your theory.  OR if you love it, double down, then double down again, and again until you've built a bridge or garnered enough momentum that whatever horizontal expansion you do is likely to succeed.

Hire a competent and shrewd manager for your early rentals and watch their systems from the inside.  Learn from the standpoint of a client and if you decide to build a management company around your properties you'll have a well rounded exposure and an understanding of what they did well.  Mimick that, improve on it, and build the thang!  

OR you may find that your niche X fuels you and the energy and vision it takes to run the management side would be a mismanagement of your resources, and your PM adds value to your niche and you love the synergy you have there.

Could be either one, and I find that far too many people start down the former road without ever giving thought to the latter.