But, if the cost is fairly nominal, maybe under a couple grand, and you have no experience in real estate, including owning your own home and hiring contractors for that, then it is likely worth it.I would always start with a deep assessment of where you feel you don't have adequate knowledge.  

I am just getting started in real estate investing and have not bought my first property yet.

I started looking in my area and am a beginner of real estate investment.Would you please tell me the reasons to have CPA vs a tax accountant.

You do need to be REP or have STR to use the losses from rentals to save your taxes.Since you started renting your single-family home in 2021 and just bought a duplex in 2024, you can use depreciation to reduce your taxable income.

I’m curious to hear how others got started in real estate and If you were to start over, how would you first begin investing in real estate?

Yes, there are a lot of people who spend less than they make and have a surplus.There are others who are inheriting wealth from othersBut there is another subset that we often forget: those who have equity in their homes.Much of the equity has built up due to a runup in home values since 2020, which allows these people to use a HELOC to purchase a home for cash.When rates were low there was a group of people who were using Hard money to purchase and rehab buildings and then refinancing at the end this was the BRRR strategy.Hard Money is not an option these days since the cost of refinancing at the end of the project is too expensive.So when we see people paying cash, it is often pent-up savings and HELOC money that people use, and not as often Hard Money.

So to save 1% from your 7% rate with a Conventional loan, there will be some hefty cost, and it's not worth it right now, and there's no crystal ball as to when a refi might make sense financially.However, if your current loan is FHA, FHA does allow a streamline refinance as an investment property, and the rate will be based on a primary residence rate.

I am currently trying to learn more about wholesale real estate and seeking ways on where I should start.

I'ma was getting burned out, and I started hating real estate.Here's the deal:67 Units, $12.2 million, 2019 vintage, mix of SFH & Duplexes.We bought this deal from the same seller who sold us a 62 unit last month.

This will save you in dump fees and labor.