All Forum Posts by: Jake Hottenrott

@Brody Jett - There are many of us CPAs on here who are not only tax experts but also real estate investors who don't mind working virtually or across time zones.  If you are looking for someone in your beck of the woods, I'd reach out to @Natalie Kolodij.  She is across the state, but would come highly recommended from a fellow accountant who has discussed more than a few different strategies with her.

@Christopher Hutchings congrats on getting the ball rolling.  Your Real Estate Attorney should be able to provide most of the information on what structure to look into based upon liability protection.  This link goes to the general business formation page for Illinois https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/bus...

and this link goes to the specific instructions and information on the LLC portion. https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/bus...

Here is a blog post I recently wrote about LLCs and which entity to go with https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5926/53215-que...

A CPAs cost will be determined by what you want that person to do for you.  If you want a once a year paper pusher to file your taxes, you can surely find that.  If you want someone who will be an advisor and be there to answer questions and educate you as you grow and work to become an adept investor, there are CPAs out there like that as well.  Whatever the cost may be, you should get at least their fee if not more back in knowledge and tax savings.

@David Noskiewicz I'm going to cut and paste a little bit from a couple of other posts I've made on this topic recently but hope this at least leads you down the right path.

"I'm going to be self serving and point you to a recent blog post I wrote. https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5926/53215-questions-as-common-as-the-cold---llc Hopefully that provides some guidance for where to take your next steps. Let me know if I can be of assistance!  "

@Asem AbuAwad I had two properties listed right at Thanksgiving and expected it to be slow.  I ended up with quite a few interested parties and a lot of showings on both properties.  One property still doesn't have anyone officially signed but the other one is a Section 8 tenant that we will be signing the lease tomorrow on.  The Section 8 inspector said that they are very busy this month with a lot of people moving.  Hold onto your patience and best of luck.  Those tenants will start coming through the doors after the new year.  

IRS.gov

@Natalie Kolodij is the accountant you will want on your side @James Marszalek.  As a proponent of virtual conversations and working anywhere I'm typically ok posting about how your accountant doesn't need to be in your backyard.  But when you have an accountant that fits the exact description of what you are looking for actually in your backyard, I highly recommend starting a conversation with her.

@Craig Miller or if your CPA doesn't answer the question, you will find and use one of the many great, competent, RE focused CPAs posting on the forums, right?

@Nestor Coronado, @Matthew Kreitzer is right.  You can definitely set one up and have it ready to go for when you officially make your first move.  The state's will happily accept your money for formation!

Also, since you asked about what we did starting out. I started a Series LLC from the beginning and put all my properties in a separate cell inside of the Series LLC. Doing it again, I would have started with buying properties in my own name for the better financing options and I would have bought an umbrella policy to cover me. Hope that all helps!

@Nestor Coronado I'm going to be self serving and point you to a recent blog post I wrote.  https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/5926/53215-questions-as-common-as-the-cold---llc  Hopefully that provides some guidance for where to take your next steps.  Let me know if I can be of assistance!