All Forum Posts by: Dustin S.

@Nathan G. My property managers only account for my repairs and maintenance that they do. I pay all of my own mortgages and taxes. I also typically do a rehab or two every year. All those cost have to accounted for too.

@PJ McLaughlin I would agree a shop of 1-3 people would be perfect. I haven't found one yet. I have interviewed several bookeeper usually a lone bookkeeper or a bigger firm. Not so much in the middle. I have started cleaning house a little I was able to get rid of 2 of my property managers at the beginning of the year. I still have 5. One in each of the 4 areas I own property and one that manages an Airbnb for me as my regular PM won't manage an Airbnb. I am testing the Airbnb if it doesn't work out I will convert it back to a normal rental.

I have been investing in real estate for 11 years now and have 11 rental properties. I didn't listen to the advice in rich dad poor dad to hire a book keeper early when things are small. Now I am paying the price. Tax time is a nightmare. I have 7 property managers, 8 different mortgage companies and 1 to 3 rehabs a year I am going to loose my mind. I have been trying to stream line and organize everything I can but it still seems like a huge chore and I want to focus my mind on growing. I have interviewed several books keepers both local and virtual assistants. It seems that amount of bookkeeping work I have is too small for larger firms. The smaller guys just don't seem reliable and I am worried about my personal info getting into the wrong hands. Any suggestions or recommendations would be much appreciated as I don't think I can survive another tax season like this.

I am living in CA as well and nothing makes sense here any more except maybe some of the Central Valley Cities. I Bought my first out of state property in Nashville because my parents live close by no income tax and I can write of trip to TN because I would view/inspect my property while I was there. The second place I bought out of state was Charlotte NC primarily because the job growth a couple of years ago was through the room and the population was growing at healthy rate. Also NC is a very landlord friendly state you do have a state income tax but if managed correctly I should show paper losses on financed properties and if not I will be paying little to no NC State income tax. For the last year I have been buying in Boise for pretty much the same reason I bought in Charlotte 2 years ago also Boise has very low crime rates. Hope that helps.

@Jordan S. I had the excavation company that did the demo on the old pad already do the grading and lay down road mix for the pour so I am probably getting a discount for having that done. I will make sure to specify that I want it graded away from the building. Thanks for your input.

@Jordan S. I didn't even think about doing part concrete part asphalt. The parking area does come all the way up to with in a few inches of the building. It might be best to pour concrete near the building. Might be hard to get asphalt that close to the building pavers and all. The entire parking area I am looking at is 30'X40' my concrete quotes are running around $5000 haven't had any solid asphalt quotes but have been ball parked at $3600 and think that may be a little on the higher side.

Hi All I am weighing the benefits replacing and old parking pad with Asphalt vs. Concrete. This is on a 7 unit apartment building that I am rehabbing in Boise Idaho. I intend to hold this property as a rental for at least a few years. Right off the bat I know concrete will be more expensive but will require less maintenance and Asphalt will be cheaper and may help melt snow in winter but require resealing every couple of years. What are your thought what did you decide to go with?

Currently I use an Excel sheet that I created entering in all of my data is the most time consuming part I guess I am worried that uploading all of that would be just as timeconsuming if not more time consuming than my current system.

All good recommendations thank you all for your responses. Are there any specific certifications to look for? Are most book keeper bonded or insured incase of fraud, identity theft etc?  

Hi all

This maybe a little late in my real estate investing career but I am officially in need of a book keeper. I already have a good CPA but unfortunately he doesn't handle the monthly books. The book keeping has finally got to the point where I don't have time to keep track of all my expenses and income from the 11 properties I own. What are some things you look for in a book keeper? Do you have your booker do taxes at the end of the year? Do you give your book keeper access to your online banking? How would you go about sending monthly statements and other documentation to you book keeper?  Can you automate this?