All Forum Posts by: Andrew Pappas

Can anyone recommend reliable general contractors in Wilmington, NC? I've got a moderate but mostly cosmetic rehab on a single family home coming up.  Thank you! 

Josh,  great ideas.  I will give them a try.  I did call the police department, and they directed me to a city web site that lists all the crimes by neighborhood and street in the past 6 months.  That neighborhood had all burglary and larceny incidents at a bit higher rate than other areas of University City, with relatively few of those occurring on Ursula ave.  Thanks for the input!

St. Louis investors,

I've got a 4-family property under contract in University City area of St. Louis, MO.  I'm targeting C class areas, and wanted to get the opinion of some local BP investors on the area.  My realtor, 2 property managers, and 2 contractors all told me it's a decent area (not the most desirable but not a war zone).  All the criminal activity in that neighborhood in the past 6 months consisted of larceny/burglary, with most of it not being on Ursula Avenue.  No violent crime.  The address is 1118 Ursula Avenue, University City, MO 63130.  I got some good video from my realtor, and the area looks clean and decent. Am I accurate on this being a C class area?  Thanks for your input. 

I agree-great advice, thank you 

Thanks Ben.  It'll probably make more sense for me when I have a steady flow of volume. I'm also just not convinced of the value this company offers.

Can anyone advise on the value of hiring a bookkeeper? I could pretty easily make an excel spreadsheet with income and expenses by property and category, and then file the receipts electronically.  I suppose it may get a lot more time consuming with more than 3 units, but is there any other value to hiring a bookkeeper beyond what I could track myself in excel? 

It seems everyone’s opinion on the rates varies a lot, but the responses have helped me realize this structure is not beneficial considering my low volume.  Thanks for the feedback! 

Yeah I paid the tax filing fee, but then they say if there's too many questions than they have to charge a fee.  That's understandable, but I only asked 2-3 questions in 6 months.  $175 a month just doesn't make sense with the amount of income my properties are bringing in.

I've been shopping my local area in Wilmington, NC for tax and bookkeeping services,  but most fee structures are quite high for the 3 properties I currently have in my portfolio.  Separate from their tax filing fees, They charge a $175 monthly retainer for tax consultation and review of financials (whether I use their services or not), and $125 a month for bookkeeping.  These fees increase based on volume.  Does anyone know if these prices are reasonable?