Another Great Week of Real Estate - Nov 10th
Cheers to Another Great Week of Real Estate! This week was packed we have a lot of good tips for you!
This week, the main highlights were:
Searching for the next property
Developing and expanding our network
Interviewing CPAs
The Next Property: The hunt for the next property continues despite my bank account being empty. In the past, I've only looked for deals when I had money and each time it was like learning how to walk again. The pay-per-lead service we use charges $300/lead and unfortunately, I haven't been able to close any of the seven leads we've received. However, this advertising cost is lower than doing our own advertising, but I'm not sure of the exact break-even point.
Tip: Underwriting is a muscle and a good way to keep that muscle strong is to set a weekly underwriting goal. This shows you what's in the market and keeps your skills sharp.
West Point Commercial Real Estate Networking: I began planning our next West Point CRE online meetup. Our first meeting was a great opportunity to learn and share resources. Working from home and investing out-of-state leads to a mental bubble so I'm super grateful for this community.
Tip: Networking and continuing education are very important and I make an effort every month to reconnect with at least one contact in the industry. It's a manageable goal, and by the end of the year, I've reconnected with a dozen people.
CPA Search Continues: The search for our 2024 CPA continues with five more interviews this year. We've had some good CPAs in the past but since we've grown and brought on investors, we want to find the best person available so we can make the right tax decisions for ourselves and our investors.
Tip: No matter how good your CPA is, you need to understand your taxes and how to read your tax return. The Book on Advanced Tax Strategies by Amanda Han is a must-read.
Resource: Here’s a link to the questionnaire we used to interview CPAs.
This isn’t an interview script. These are important questions that we need to know before choosing someone as our new CPA.
First Propane Tank: I just encountered my first propane tank on a property. I realized the house had a propane tank because we recently ran out, leaving our contractor and his crew in the cold. It's been a challenge getting it refilled as this is the busy season and there is one local company in the area.
Tip: At closing, your agent should be providing you with a list of utilities and service providers for the house. It's a lot easier to continue service rather than reconnecting service once something is turned off.
