Team Structure for Multiple State Investing

[Kristin Caras]

My partner and I just purchased our first rental property by Fort Drum in upstate New York. The property is in his name as a house hack with a VA loan. We are looking to purchase a second in another state (DE or PA) and we think down the line when the second property is purchased we would like to incorporate all our properties into an LLC. We'd also like to get a CPA to assist us with itemized deductions on the property.

How do you recommend we structure our CPA and lawyer if in multiple states? Should it be one team per location or keep the properties and team state specific, or a mix? 

[Chris K.]

@Kristin Caras

For lawyers, I would recommend using different ones depending on the state. Even as a PA lawyer, I still rely on other lawyers for out-of-state/out-of-country deals. 

For CPAs, I'm not sure if it would make sense to use multiple ones. The "main" job of a CPA is to deal with federal taxes. It sometimes makes sense to use different CPAs if they have different expertise (e.g. one CPA for real estate transactions, another CPA for manufacturing business, etc.). But if it is just for real estate purposes, I'm not sure if it will make a major difference.

Disclaimer: While I’m an attorney licensed to practice in PA, I’m not your attorney. What I wrote above does not create an attorney/client relationship between us. I wrote the above for informational purposes. Do not rely on it for legal advice. Always consult with your attorney before you rely on the above information.

[Kristin Caras]

@Chris K. That is really helpful, thank you!