All Forum Posts by: Olga Fomenko

Hi Andrew, when I was starting, my CPA at that time said that I can consider business expenses everything what happened 3 month prior to opening an LLC. So I could start deducting my expenses after I opened an LLC but only taking into consideration by biz expenses 3 month prior. And there was also something about doing your first deal in that LLC in a certain period of time.

So I'd suggest before you jump into opening an LLC to speak with a REI savvy CPA, lay out your current situation and plans and see what he/she will suggest. Because regardless of how much other investors know, your personal situation may be different.

Originally posted by @Daniel Chang:

California has a ridiculous rule that if the managing member lives in CA, then it's considered doing business in California, despite the actual business has nothing to do with CA.  I don't believe any other state has the rule.  

Attorneys do what attorneys do best.  They don't give practical business advice.  They give advice that is theoretical.  I agree, WY has better asset protection laws and privacy laws.  However, do you really want to deal with 3 state registrations and yearly maintenance, including the fees associate with each?  And if you run a legitimate business, the liklihood that you get caught in a situation that WY laws would really help you and another state's would not is 1 in a million.  

I would say to minimize your expenses, create the LLC in DC. If your partner in CA insists on being a managing member, then perhaps have that person pay the $800 CA registration fee?

Thanks Daniel. I see what you mean about asset protection and agree the chances of getting sued in money lending business are little to none. Of course we are doing everything legally and using brokers and attorneys as needed. So now I'm thinking it would even be better to do it in personal name of my CA resident partner. 

I would love to find a great CA CPA that would work with us. Any suggestions who I can contact?

Originally posted by @Logan Allec:

Why did the attorney suggest opening a Wyoming LLC?

 I have no answer to that. I told him the nature of business and that was his suggestion. He did ask if we are going to do business in CA and I said "no", because the deals we are funding aren't in CA. But turns out it doesn't matter if one of the members is resident

I'm starting an LLC for money lending business. The attorney suggested to open a Wyoming LLC for tax and asset protection. My issue is that a managing member lives in California and the operations manager lives in Florida which according to the filing documents means that we have to register business in 2 more states: CA and DC. Operations Manager is not going to be on legal documents, she is a contracted worker.

My question is if anyone has been in a similar situation and found a way to minimize expenses?

I am consulting with attorneys as well, so I'm just looking for other opinions to ask the right questions to my attorney. So do not hesitate to share, I won't consider it as a legal advise (unless you are an attorney and want me to)

Thnx in advance!

If you are in lending, I'd like to hear what's the best entity for starting to lend nationwide? I'm looking for tax benefits

I can see how REIBB can be overwhelming. Used it for years and learnt it inside out, but to be honest, most tools you really don't need. Yes, it "has it all" but if you want just the CRM, there are a lot cheaper options, like mailchimp, Aweber or AllClients (the software that myClientGenie was whitelableds from). And if you aren't using all the tools, what's the point of paying $100/mo?

1st decide what exactly you need and if you can justify the cost for what you will use. BTW if you want to train a VA, reibb has an entire video library to help you do that

Freedomsof btw was recently bought out and improved big time, so it's a completely different platform. But here is a comparison table for 3 different softwares if you are interested done by an investor (a friend of mine), who used them all and currently switched to Podio - http://bit.ly/1KOqZDC

Odesk doesn't exist anymore, it's UpWork now. It is quite hard to find someone good for $3/h there. Prepare to go thru 10s of candidates... 1st I don't see how you are going to have someone taking calls if this person isn't there for you 9-5 or even 24/7. Here is how we do it: - 25/7 answering service to take calls and take callers info (this isn't to screen calls but just to make sure the caller is acknowledged) - part-time assistant 2-4 hours/day (depending) on your volume - make sure you are ready to train your VAs, don't assume they know what you expect from them! Even those that claim they have experience in real estate, you still have to train them and monitor closely at first. Let me know if you have more questions about VAs. I have quite a lot experience working with them, hiring and training them. Good luck

Hi Alex :) good to see you here