I would ask yourself what is your end goal?

Lots of folks invest here. 15+ years Realtor/Wholesaler experience.

@Nadir M. you would show 100% of whatever you collected on behalf of an owner.Of course, if tenant pays via credit card, you would NOT include the credit card fees, because you did not receive them.From the funds in your OPERATING account, you would pay any expenses on behalf of the owner, including your management fees - which you woul transfer to your PMC account.Owner will be paid from Operating account.Your vendors (office expenses, auto, etc) would be paid from your PMC account.Year end, you are require by IRS to send a 1099 with GROSS amount collected on behalf of owner.

I think the best thing to do would be to find a good-hearted person with a lot of experience and pick their brain.

But experience teaches you two things: Always have a solid contract agreement and understand it (which we did and why we did not sign a contract with no reps and certs) and that due diligence isn’t just about relying on vendors—it’s about knowing when to dig deeper.

Being a NYC resident (originally from Long Island), the price of entry in the area is on the higher end, so I've been considering some options in the NY Capitol region, as well as NJ and CT.

Thus creating a monopoly that I don't know how to get out of.I've worked years in this industry from the PM-end and never seen anyone try to bill a percentage off the security deposit and, though a little digging is showing me it CAN be done, it seems like bad business.

Check out FilePlace, where user-created forms are available for free.

I ended up with millions stuck in IRAs and roths I’ll never touch because of real estate.

The last few STR deals I closed where my client used a second home loan, they ended up putting down 20-25%, preferring to have more equity in the property versus giving away thousands in fees to the lender.