All Forum Posts by: Cliff Benner

 So start with the end in mind and work backwards from there to find areas to get into, makes sense to me

Anything special to look for in Zoning laws when looking for developing short term cabins, that you can think of?

Thanks Mike!

 What type of Zoning is best for something like this or what do you specifically do when it comes to Due Diligence for Zoning?

 I love stories like these! I came from a poor family and lived with little amounts, ramen noodles, etc. I watched my dad get laid off just so the companies could save money and watched my mom get excited for $.50 raises like it was a gift from God. My wife had a similar upbringing so we decided to push for ourselves to build businesses because, "why not" and so we would never have to feel the way they did in those situations. Oh no, maybe we cant buy organic whatever's or we live with what we have(10 year tvs and Xboxes) but then dump everything we can into building up to work for ourselves! We messed up on our first rental and got pushed back a few years but we took that lesson into our other businesses and now we are taking off with them! Love hearing this! You are the type of person we love seeing succeed, like most BPers! 

I am a Bookkeeper if you are looking for one to Outsource your Books, feel free to message me! 

@Bruce Woodruff sounds like you found out the "fun" way like I did!

Got some horror stories to real estate investors around the campfire??

I would agree with the Savings. Build it up for repairs or more acquisitions. 

I dont have an online meetup but more then happy to talk Shop!

 I do outsource my Taxes, but I meant having a Real Estate Tax Accountant or a CPA who I chat with to help create me a long term strategy. My Real Estate plan is slow and long, I don't plan to live on the income so it may take me a few years to justify a $2k expense for a conversation or for a CPA to handle my returns. When I worked in Public Accounting, the firms charged way more than I think they are worth for a small portfolio. Yes, they have an Accountant whose job is it to know all Real Estate and Tax, but is me saving $1,500 a year with their strategy worth the $2k bill? That is what I meant, get the best bang for your buck. If you think hiring a CPA to discuss your plan, how you can do it, and all the roads you can take with that, than that is the best option for you! I like to think of it like the BP Money Podcast thinks of it, find the best value but if something is emotionally affecting you, than target that and do what it takes to get that solved and then you don't have to worry about it when you go to sleep. 

For your situation, one rental and just W2 Income, I would suggest finding a Tax Accountant, CPA or not. Ask them all the Tax questions you could to get a basic understanding of it. Then as you build your portfolio look to hire a new Tax Accountant or CPA to match your growing needs. Again though, focus on what you think is best for your business and helps you sleep at night.

My wife and I nailed down our WHY for everything we do and strive for. This makes it easier to stay motivated. That and a distrust of other being in control of my life. While where I work is great and I learn a lot/make a good amount of money, I am one bad decision they make from my life being completely different and thrown into turmoil with nothing I can do about it. 

So we have gone into business, I can work decent or very hard at my 9-5 and get a 5% raise either way. For our businesses, I can work hard and push to find leads and increase my revenue! With this push, we bought a business last year and are in a position to push the revenue up, we pivoted our Coaching business to add my Bookkeeping services and then increase revenue by $3k the first year and have already doubled our monthly revenue this month. Real Estate is our retirement plan and we put a PM in charge who has been amazing and now I barely do anything besides the Books for it monthly. 

Long Story Short, develop a very truthful "Why" and realize that you are the only one who can get you there. If it is easy to brush off, it's a goal not a "Why" .

 I agree with @Andrew Freed, have a Bookkeeper help keep them in order. As a Bookkeeper, I do a lot of clean up when I onboard clients, because they just don't know what they don't know, and they would just pay a Tax Accountant to do it at Tax time, and they usually miss things because they don't see your month to month items. But if you are getting into Partnerships, it's very important to have all the details and books clean from the start. Usually Finances are the hardest part of working with others and if they books are clean you can show them at any point to ease their concerns.

I use QuickBooks for my clients, I have used Wave, which is free, but you get what you pay for. It's not the best but it is a lot better than most of the Free Real Estate softwares I have seen, but this is because I make sure the software allows me to create Journal Entries, in case adjustments need to be made. It really depends on what you need and how you want your financials to read so you can make informative decisions. 

maybe you can find a lender who will allow you to put the equity in those units as collateral for the down payment?