CPA, Tax Lawyer, Real Estate Lawyer, Business Lawyer or Property Lawyer?

Question

Hello everyone,

This has been on my mind for sometime. I have a lot of tax questions and business ideas and I am not sure which of these professionals I need on my team. I am confused if I need all of them or just a couple.

I am building a plan to purchase vacation rental properties internationally as well as US. I have so many questions about legalities and taxes that are tripping me up.  I would like to create an umbrella corporation with each property listed as an LLC-there is more, but that is the jist.

I intend on building it up to an international REIT. Granted this will take the many years to achieve. I have big dreams and big goals.

How do you determine which lawyer you need or if you can just manage with your CPA? Or do I build up the team as I progress and if so, which order?

Apologies if my question is complete newb question; I only work for a corporation, I never tried to build one before :-) Please be gentle.

Steven Hamilton II · Answer

A tax lawyer is more what you'd be worried about if you're facing criminal prosecution for tax issues or if you are in a position of expanding into that REIT. The only thing they can do an Enrolled Agent cannot is represent you in a court of law and Tax Court itself(Very rare situation).

Anthony V. · Answer

Your CPA and business/real estate lawyer will likely be the best judges for when you'll need a tax lawyer. Unless your tax situation is really complex I don't think you would need one at all until maybe you get into the international or REIT stuff.

Steven Hamilton II · Answer

A good accountant and basic attorney should help you until it gets to a fairly large level, then you run into SEC issues at which time you will need to being in an SEC attorney and there will need to be outside auditing done as well.

As for an accountant do not feel like you need to use someone local. Many of us accountants have clients worldwide. Payroll, bookkeeping, etc can mostly be done remotely.

Here is a great list of questions to ask a potential accountant:http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/51/topics/70447-questions-to-ask-a-cpa

Also check out the www.NAEA.org page in your search. It should help you find someone local. If someone comes to me, I'll send them your way.

If you need help in your search or want to verify something don't hesitate to ask.

For example: I have clients worldwide and things are just as easy as I e-mail them, talking on the phone. I even use Skype and TeamViewer to communicate with clients so I'd highly recommend looking for one of the best with great references that interviews well with you.

So look for someone you can connect with that works out for your situation.

Feel free to ask here if you have questions.

Anthony V. · Answer

A CPA is a given. As for lawyers, talk to several of them. They will usually sit down with you for a free intro discussion. Many lawyers have multiple specialties and experiences but I have also found that if they are not comfortable with what you need them to do they will tell you upfront and refer you to someone else if they can. They don't want to waste time researching a new area law for just one client and they don't want to be on the hook if they screw something up. Start with a real estate guy - they usually have the business side as well and are familiar with typical business organisations for investors. What you laid out is exactly what I have - a "holding company" LLC with LLC's underneath.

I can't speak for the international properties and taxes so maybe someone else can chime in on that.

When you say REIT do you mean that you just want to create a trust to put your property in or do you actually mean a REIT? A trust is fairly simple and an estate planning lawyer can take care of that. If you actually mean REIT then you are in for a long, expensive journey.

Angela A. · Answer

Thank you both @Anthony V. and  @Steven Hamilton II for your responses and resources. I suppose I will gather that list of questions and start interviewing the various lawyers and seeing who makes a good fit.

The REIT will come much later in life as I did expect a long road.  I suppose many of the lawyers will come along as more questions arise. (I am excited about my business plan and raring to go lol)

So if I take a step back, and start with my CPA, then at what point do need a Tax Lawyer? Is a Tax Lawyer an accountant who can practice law and therefore one step up and thus more knowledgeable? Or is the Tax Lawyer someone I will reach out to when I get closer to incorporating?

CPA, Tax Lawyer, Real Estate Lawyer, Business Lawyer or Property Lawyer?

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