All Forum Posts by: Paul Allen

Forming a relationship with a tax professional is good to do early in your REI career. Whether or not you need that tax professional to be a CPA I can't say.

Best of Luck with Your Real Estate Investing!

Talk to more than one agent from more than one company. Ask each how much his/her commission is for selling you the policy. Not just the first year, but the trailing commissions in future years as well. 

Best of Luck with Your Real Estate Investing!

@Moses Castillo if you want professional assistance building a financial plan around real estate investments, then I recommend a fee-only, fiduciary financial planner.

Fee-only (not fee-based)

Fiduciary (make him/her put it in writing. Fiduciaries are like hotties on a dating app - not everyone who claims to be one actually is!)

Financial Planner (Not investment advisor, wealth manager, portfolio czar, or anything like that)

Best of Luck with Your Real Estate Investments!

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/error-in-tax-calculation-in-schedule-d-tax-worksheet-form-1040

Never a dull moment.  

Pretty sure Amanda Han and others have never said "These strategies are easy, implement them without any professional assistance."

Don't you hate it when you study and work at something and then people tell you that you screwed it up?  

I hate that just a little less than when I screw something up and no one tells me and I keep screwing it up over and over and over.

There is a ton of excellent free knowledge in this thread. Or maybe you paid $499 for it. Either way -if you assimilate it - it was a bargain.

Best of Luck with Your Real Estate Investing! 

@JoAnn Dorio I can't speak to ALL the states, but Virginia has no minimum amount of time the contribution must remain in the 529 plan in order to qualify for the Virginia income tax deduction. You could roll it in a day and still get the tax break. 

Intentionally.

Best of Luck on Your Journey!

It pains me to read the harsh criticisms of my profession, but there is no escaping the truth. Financial Advisors are among the least trusted professionals in America - and they've 100% earned that reputation. 

The problem is that many (MANY) salespeople hide behind the title "Financial Advisor" (or Planner, or Wealth Manager, or etc.), and it is generally confusing. Jane Q. Public knows not to seek nutritional advice from the person working the cash register at Burger King. JQP also knows that if you ask the Toyota salesman what kind of car would be good the recommendation is going to be a Toyota!  But...when someone tells you they are offering 'financial advice' you might not be aware that 100% of their training was in sales, and 100% of their recommendations are Northwestern Mutual products. (or John Hancock, UBS, USAA, BoA, etc.)

There are a few government regulations in place to try to provide some consumer protections, but they are rarely enforced. If you want to work with a (real) financial planner, due diligence is your only real protection. There ARE some good ones out there. You just have to work a bit harder to find us.  :)

Best of Luck with Your Real Estate Investments!

Filing: You will claim the income on your 2019 state and federal income tax returns. (Possibly Philly, too.) Your income will be on the capital gains and (assuming they were rental properties for the past 4 years) the recapture of the depreciation expenses allowed or allowable when the properties were rented.

You can't avoid the tax by re-investing unless you establish a 1031 exchange prior to the sale. This allows you to defer recognizing the income by transferring your basis to the new property or properties. That would be the only way to sell the properties but avoid the tax.

Seems like you made some money. Well done!  Best of Luck with Your Future Investments!

All that information, but you didn't include what we need to know to make a business decision on your investment.

You talked mostly about your feelings. Should I sell until I feel better?

I can't really answer that one for you. I'm not sure anyone here can. But if you tell us about your P&L on the property you might get some helpful answers. Sometimes those can help you feel better, too!

Welcome to BP!

Best of Luck with Your Real Estate Investing!