All Forum Posts by: Aaron Zimmerman

QBO or Stessa are quite good for real estate. I’d lean Stessa assuming you’re not house hacking. 

For LLC vs S Corp, you generally want to own in an LLC.

Two main reasons being: (1) debt does not increase your basis in an S Corp, which means your losses get limited. In a partnership it does. (2) if you distribute property from an S Corp, you will have to pay taxes even if it's to yourself. 

There’s a lot of great real estate CPAs out there that aren’t in Minnesota. I’d encourage your friend to consider out of state CPAs!

 @Bonnie Low - it's important to know what services you're paying for. If you're not sure, ask your CPA. A lot of times CPAs are so bogged down with compliance work that they can't even think about doing advisory. Not an excuse but just letting you know the way it is. 

The good news is that there are plenty of great CPAs out there including on these forums.

@Audrey Li - you've come to the right place. You also appear to have done a lot of research with the STR so it's great that you have a good understanding.

One thing that I'd like to highlight that you'll also want to talk with prospective CPAs is understanding which hours count and which hours don't for material participation. It is imperative that your CPA can guide you through this process and ideally has a template for you to follow. 

@Linda Weygant had a great comment as well, above.

@Spencer Ware - have you considered syndication? This may suit your investment goals if you're looking to be more passive. The biggest thing is vetting the operator as they ultimately drive the returns. There are a lot of poor operators out there but there's also a lot of good ones. I would be hesitant to jump in the first deal you find. 

In Cincy, I'd recommend John Casmon as a great resource. Incredibly genuine person and is a multi-family syndicator.

@Jonathan Klemm - I love that you're putting this offering out there and providing value to the Chicago community as always. Often times, it's hard to estimate rehab costs. 

I would consider looking at short term rentals for possible investments. There can also be substantial tax benefits if structured properly. 

As always, make sure the investment is a good investment for you. 

 Biggerpockets is a great resource. I'd recommend researching the forums and finding a few CPAs to interview. Most CPAs on here are real estate focused and sometimes have property themselves. Otherwise, I'd recommend looking at local FB groups.

@Jeff Bateman - I would encourage you to look through the forums or the find a professional feature biggerpockets has. Most real estate CPAs would be able to handle your tax situation. Given that you're in Texas, you can really open up your search nationwide if you are open to that.