All Forum Posts by: Aaron Zimmerman

I'm not 100% sure what the market is like but perhaps a rent by the room strategy on a SFH may prove to be better out there. As stated above, taxes will be more expensive out there.

The best way is to interview CPAs on Biggerpockets or Look for recommendations on the forums in your local area from local investors. If you're open to working remote, there's quite a few individuals on here that specialize in real estate taxation. Reach out to them and see what works for you and see who you get along with. You're also going to want to look for someone who educates you on the process and understands your overall tax strategy (i.e. do I want to take the most deductions now or can you take more later to potentially get additional financing). A good CPA will do that for you. 

Yes- I would use Quickbooks. It is quite robust. I would have each property be its own class code. I would set up the income and expenses to be as they are on Schedule E. For assets and liabilities, you would adjust based on monthly activity. For the building, you'd just want to make the basis broken between building and land and ensure the depreciation deduction matches the tax. I hope this helps!

I would argue that the bookkeeping is the easiest part. The 1065 has become increasingly complicated. For example, you must show the partner's capital on a tax basis this year (not a previous requirement). This may prove difficult for some investors to come up with this. Most CPAs don't charge an insanely high amount. Plus, it is a deduction for the partnership, so you're not eating 100% of the cost as it's a deductible expense. It is best to get things right in year one than to come to an accountant years later. 

I would recommend waiting until after busy season to reach out to a CPA. Your tax situation does not appear to be changing much for 2020 but will for 2021 and will allow you to still plan and strategize for your taxes

Yes. This is absolutely a deductible business expense. It is also in the BP book advanced tax strategies and they share some good info on this topic. Not affiliated but I've been reading it and it's good. 

@Alex Figueroa welcome! There's quite a few FB groups for the Chicago area in addition to meet-ups. Feel free to PM and I can send you some links. Happy to help in any way that I can!

Ryan- welcome to BP. I did my house hack a little west (Irving Park). Still a great neighborhood and fairly close to the action. Let me know if you'd like to talk sometime and I'd be happy to share my experience!

I agree with John. House hacking is the best first step because you need somewhere to live. The biggest thing is to make sure it cash flows when you leave and enjoy the neighborhood you live in. 

There are quite a few FB groups that put on free events and good networking (currently remote). Feel free to PM and I can send you some links. I don't know if I can post them in the forums.