All Forum Posts by: Greg Carrier

What @Douglas Montgomery said.  We only use lawyers if we have something tricky to figure out

Evan you should join the two facebook groups for REI for this area. Lots of local investors on both of them.

@Michael Plaks accountants are like engineers, they all think they are smarter than the rest, good point on disregarding the LLC but if he took his same details to five different accountants everyone would end up with a different taxable amount.

On the rental you do need a 1065 for the LLC and the costs of finding the property would go into the basis of the property IMO and be depreciated.

On paying your kid, how much did you pay him?  If under $600 I would ignore it although you are responsible for the withholding tax if you were audited and they found it.  The work of going back and filing a 1099 for him (way easier than a W2 and sounds more accurate) would not be worth the trouble in my opinion.  Just know that going forward so keep track and have your CPA involved so you can file properly.

Cost of running a business are deductible so I would expense those on a schedule C

All that said I was a CPA for years and years but I don't know all your details so your local guy will spend more time and be more accurate than my quick response.  Good Luck!

We use the stuff that runs about $2.89 a foot at Lowes.  It's called Smartcore.  It is thicker than the cheaper stuff.  We have tried it all from the base up and what we like about this level of laminate is that it lays way easier, goes over minor imperfections without coming loose (there is more room on the laminate for it to lock into the other pieces) and does not need a separate layer of padding underneath it.  We lay a lot of this both in our flips and rentals.

Good points above. I've got two different suggestions. 1. branch out beyond Waukesha. My guess is it is on average a nicer place than many other Milwaukee subs and in the current market pretty pricey. I am sure there are lots of older and still nice subs to pick from in the metro area. 2. Are you finding these on the MLS. If so start networking and find local REIA's to find off market listings. Also in Indiana we (locals) use a 2% rule rather than a 1% and I imagine you can get closer to that in Wisconsin if you are patient. Patience is the key. Lots of houses out there and some okay deals but very good deals are still out there as well. Can you post your assumptions on costs for us. We may find a place you look high in comparison to our experience. Good Luck!

Me too and I was going to tell you about the FB group but Jen beat me to it.  Lots of people around here in the group.

I own six rentals in mishawaka.  message me if you want to talk about the area.  Also if you want some insights to the group that invests around here there is a facebook group called south bend / mishawaka real estate investors.

There is a lot of risk in any strategy for beginners for the same reason you call out BRRRR. Beginners don't know what things actually cost, they don't know the rules or what really needs to be done on properties for both value enhancement and to meet code requirements and they lack connections who can help them in those areas. We learned a ton from our first few houses. I think the quotes on the first flip we did ranged from 8K to 33K. But you have to learn somewhere and there is no getting around first hand experience, especially given all the "experts" who want you to pay them to help you. I think paying guru's is a much bigger risk as most don't deliver what they promise and my guess is that getting into real estate through turn key investments generally is a losing proposition for beginners. BRRR is great for those with no money to start, for those who have ample cash reserves any method will do because you can take the hit and work through it. Happy Easter!

@Shannon Danko Northern Indiana and southwest Michigan