All Forum Posts by: Justin England

@Jeff B. - Much appreciated for the response. I think I'll stay out of the LLC for the time being and just continue forward without mucking up my finances with another couple of transactions that don't need to be there.

Great advice, everyone. Thank you!

@Lucas Hall - Thanks for the response. That's currently how I'm handling things and I have seen that method recommended often. I'd like to keep things as segregated as possible but as simple as possible.

@Jeff B. - Good point on the personal/business .25/.75 split. Thanks for the input.

I have searched for this all day, but perhaps my google-fu or my insufficient REI lexicon isn't allowing me to find the right results.

I just purchased a fourplex and will be occupying while renovating. Two of the units need work, the other two are nicely upgraded. I haven't YET started an LLC, so I am currently just a personal entity - if that matters.

The question is: Do I pay myself rent? I am setting up Cozy right now and using myself as a test environment to see what my tenants' experiences will be, and the matter of rent amount came up. I will be collecting all rent into a separate, business-only personal checking account.

To me it seems like a big ouroboros, but perhaps you savvy investors can identify a well-known tax advantage or business/bookkeeping advantage to approaching this one way or another.  What say?

Thanks for the heads up on the webinars everyone! For those of you with pro memberships: Is it worth it?

@Tomas Calvino Hm good point, thanks for bringing that up. I'll try to report back if I figure out a good solution.

@Richard Rinehart Great news, thanks for the heads up.

Great suggestions @Steven Hamilton II and @Tomas Calvino; much appreciated and thank you for taking the time. It does seem wiser to open an LLC and a business account for myself, as I do currently intend to continue buying and holding properties. I don't plan to stay in state forever, so eventually everything will be moved to a PM company - but I don't know yet if that'll be sooner or later. I suppose it depends on how much of my free time being a landlord uses up! If my hours average out to cost more than the price of a PM company, or even comes in the ballpark, the choice is obvious for me. After all, I'm investing to become free!

I had to look up what a DBA was, but as interesting as it sounds I believe an LLC with (or without) a separate DBA may suit my needs better if I'm going to have multiple properties. And then I believe I can deed my property to the LLC or DBA... maybe? Obviously I need more education on the matter, as well as mentorship on best practices.

@Michael S.Hey Ashley - thanks for the advice! I'm not sure yet if it'll be smarter for me to refinance and use my VA loan multiple times, or to just use conventional loans from here on out; one of many things I have yet to learn. And I totally agree on the awesomeness of such a great resource and community. Hopefully I will be able to contribute eventually, adding to our cumulative success.

Hi everyone. I'm purchasing my first property, a fourplex, and close at the beginning of November. I'm curious about how everyone keeps their accounts for units and properties segregated.

My idea was to collect all rents for each property into a checking account for said property. Either via Cozy or money orders or checks. I do not currently have a business license or LLC set up, but should I? Will that give me access to better banking tools and credit cards that are worth it?

How do you segregate accounts? Do you have a huge checking account for ALL your properties? One for each property? Each unit? Separate savings accounts? I'd like to protect reserve funds and security deposits and keep them visible at a glance in Mint, but perhaps I'm over-complicating things. I am a huge proponent of investing time in front-end setup in order to automate and simplify daily operations.

Several institutions like Capital One 360 and one of my local CUs actually allow you to build checking/savings accounts on the fly, which is the way I'm leaning...

Any advice? Thanks!!

Hi everyone, I'm an Alaskan just beginning my real estate investing journey. I plan to purchase and hold quads/tris/bis and house hack.

I'm a veteran and fortunately have a very good friend who is a RE agent who is also a veteran, an RE investor, and who specializes in investment properties. She's the one that actually got me interested in investing since I asked for her advice on a SFR I was considering. She got me very excited about it, and I get keys to my new fourplex at the beginning of November. I think my VA loan gives me a huge boost in the investing arena, but I am just starting and have so much to learn about even the basics. I'm sure we're all still learning and will never stop learning and adapting.

My goals are simply to become financially independent and retire early so that I can travel the world, write, see/do amazing things, meet amazing people, eat amazing food, and do good charitable things around the world. Like Kane. I am Kane. Slightly less kung fu.

So far I'm having a lot of fun and looking forward to leveling up my life with this awesome new realm of investing. First step is learning how to assume control of already occupied units, collecting rent and keeping my accounting very tightly regulated. I'll post up on the forums asking for advice in those areas.

Anyway, I've been lurking and this seems like a great community. I'm excited to be a part of it, and to learn a lot. Hopefully I'll eventually have something useful to contribute as well!