All Forum Posts by: Aaron Zimmerman

I would go with a real estate cpa, but I’m a little biased. You want peace of mind knowing that everything was properly deducted.

I think you could learn how to do the bookkeeping for properties and reduce that fee. I do feel like $6k is pretty high, so I’d look around and talk with other CPAs

Donald - I think the key is going out to networking events and asking investors who they use. Handyman is probably one of the harder ones to find reliably and something I struggle with as being invested in Chicago. 

As others have said in the post, I would definitely re-run your cash flow numbers as $4k per month in cash flow after subtracting out PITI is not true cash flow. You'll want to account for vacancy, capex, property mgmt, repairs, etc.

I would re-run your returns with this information. It seems Like you have an edge with your network and being able to manage remotely, so I wouldn’t hesitate keeping properties here, especially if they’re in A+ areas. 

There's a lot of great CPAs in this forum and BP. I'd look through the forums, reach out to a few and see who you connect well with.

I would consider Stessa or Quickbooks. They're pretty robust softwares. I would make the expense codes mimic the Schedule E if using quickbooks.

Mason - there’s a lot of real estate CPAs on here. I’d recommend looking in the forums, asking local FB groups for their recommendations. 

Regarding house hacking, I wrote an article that I think could provide you some value.

You can reach out to the IRS and get your tax return copy from previous year. There will be a fee and id recommend filing an extension for this year. 

I do find it hard to believe that they just lost your return though. If they did, that’s really bad practice management. If they didn’t, then they’re simply not being professional. The carryovers for depreciation and your basis are absolutely crucial. 

Yes it’d be 120 days. You could always offer cash for keys though. 

Some interesting takes in this chat. Very eye opening for the positive. I think real estate will benefit overall. 
1. More favorable tax laws - it’s possible 100% bonus depreciation could be back on the table which makes this a much more desirable asset class. 
2. Still limited supply and there will be higher building costs due to potential tariffs/continued inflation

Offsetting factors:

1. Demand decrease due to crackdown of illegal immigration. Some markets are more impacted than others by illegal immigrants. As others have said, I don’t think this administration will make a meaningful dent in the number of people here. It does Likely reduce the flow of illegal immigrants going forward.  As an example, Chicago probably has a much smaller population % wise compared to Texas or California. 

2, higher for longer interest rates - if inflation continues to remain high (which I think it will with some of trumps policies) 

3. A reduction in the deficit (less government spending means gdp growth will be less) but overall this would be positive for US financial health as we can’t keep borrowing as much and going down this path of higher debt and deficits. 

As a CPA, it's very client dependent. For those with a W-2, perhaps optimizing 401(k), H.S.A. deductions to potentially get tax benefits. For other clients, it's considering cost segregations. Ideally, meeting with clients at least once to twice a year if their situation warrants it, especially if they have real estate professional or STR loophole.