All Forum Posts by: Kristen Ambrose

My husband and I house hack in West Long Branch, NJ. We couldn’t find anything in North Jersey in areas we actually wanted to live.

Hey! Great question. Yes, ideally you should transfer the funds from your HELOC or 401k into your LLC's business account first, then send the investment from there. That keeps everything clean and clearly tied to your business.

When the property sells and the profits come back into the LLC account, the key is solid bookkeeping.

Totally get where you're coming from — Excel can only take you so far, especially as you start to scale. For real estate investors, I always recommend QuickBooks Online. It's easy to use, lets you track income and expenses per property, and generates clean profit/loss reports — super helpful for tax time and decision-making.

Totally agree. Automation and systems are key if you want to stay sane and grow your business at the same time. The one tool I couldn’t live without is QuickBooks Online. It gives me a clear view of where every dollar is going, which is huge when you're juggling multiple deals or properties. Transactions sync automatically from the bank, and once you set up a few rules, it saves a ton of time. I also love that you can track income and expenses by project or property, which helps you actually understand your numbers instead of guessing. It connects with other tools too, which keeps everything streamlined. QuickBooks isn’t just helpful for taxes — it helps you make smarter decisions throughout the year.

House hacking and using an FHA loan is a great way to get started. I live in NJ as well and purchased my first duplex in West Long Branch, where I live on one side and rent out the other. NJ is expensive, so I found this to be the best option to get started.

First-time investors should seriously consider house hacking—it’s a much easier barrier to entry and a great way to learn the ropes while living in your investment. Out-of-state investing can be powerful, but it’s a different beast. You’ve got to spend serious time understanding the market and building a trustworthy team on the ground. Otherwise, it can turn into a nightmare fast.

I live in NJ, so I totally understand. My first property was a duplex in west long branch NJ that my husband and I lived in. 

House hack with an FHA loan — that's what I did! I bought a duplex, lived in one unit, and rented out the other. With just 3.5% down, it was an affordable way to get started and have my tenant help cover the mortgage. Great first step if you've got a W-2 lined up!

I use QBO for all of my flip bookkeeping clients. We track flips on the P&L in the following accounts:

Flips - Sales Price, Flips - Purchase Price, Flips - Acquisition Costs, Flips - Rehab Costs, Flips - Holding Costs, and Flips - Selling Costs

If the project isn't sold by the end of the year, we book a journal entry to move it from the P&L to the Balance Sheet. Some of my clients want to track at a more detailed level in which case we use the projects module to track at the same level of detail as the rehab budget. 

Congratulations on taking this significant step towards owning your first rental property! House hacking truly offers unparalleled advantages. The reduced cost of living opens up so many investment opportunities and enriching life experiences that might have otherwise remained out of reach.

When my husband and I acquired our duplex, both units were already occupied. In order to secure our FHA loan, we opted for a strategy known as "cash for keys," where we incentivized one set of tenants to vacate. This approach, commonly discussed on BP, could potentially address your concern regarding below-market rent. You could discuss with your lawyer to determine if this avenue is viable for your situation.

However, it's also worth considering the value of having reliable tenants. If your current tenants are exceptional and the financial numbers still align despite the lower rent, there's something invaluable about the peace of mind. Sometimes, the assurance of having trustworthy tenants that you actually like transcends monetary calculations and contributes significantly to the overall enjoyment of property ownership (especially when you're neighbors).

To reiterate what's been said above, I use the QuickBooks Online Plus subscription for all of my investor clients. We use the Business field for entities and the Class field for properties. Very customizable and can create all the reports your CPA requests.