When to Bite the Bullet and Find a Spendy Accountant?

[Austen Gross]

Hi BP Family,

Long time reader looking for a bit of advice as my business partner and I's portfolio grows. Up until now, we have not used an LLC to purchase or protect any of the properties mainly to limit down payments to 15% instead of 25% as liquid cash has always been the hardest to come by. We have moved into each property making it our primary residence and remodeled it after we purchased to build as much equity as we could early on. Over the past 14 months in this crazy market, we have somehow found a way to buy 3 properties off-market bringing our total to 5 properties.

In the past, we have filed individual taxes with schedule E but with the portfolio growing to be something more serious business rather than hobby house fixing, we are looking into Accountants/Tax Prep. I was fairly shocked to see most are $2k+ per year or $300-$500 a month for their services. Do these Real Estate CPAs really save you more than you spend on them in a year?

I understand that may be the wrong question to ask as they obviously provide many other benefits than just saving on taxes but it seems to be the most quantifiable point to ask first. 

Thanks in advance for any and all advice on the matter!