Real Estate
Your real estate deals deserve a tax plan before the closing.
Rental owners, BRRRR investors, flippers, wholesalers, agents, and brokers. I prepare your return and put every part of the tax code built for real estate to work for you, whether you’re building a portfolio or a book of business.
Book a Free Discovery CallWho This Is For
Real estate is one of the most rewarding areas of the tax code for planning, and one of the least forgiving of guesswork. Depreciation, exchanges, the passive loss rules, and real estate professional status all reward the investors and agents who plan for them, but many advisors don’t work with them often enough to speak your language. You might own rentals or vacation properties, be planning a sale or an exchange, or earn your living as an agent or broker working across several cities. You want an advisor who knows these rules inside and out and finds every legal way to keep more of what your real estate earns. If that sounds like you, we’ll work well together.
Where I can help
Rental owners and investors
- Like-kind (1031) exchanges, Delaware Statutory Trusts (DST), 721 exchanges, and UPREITs
- The “lazy 1031”: using cost segregation and bonus depreciation on your next purchase to offset gain from a sale
- Depreciation, cost segregation studies, and Section 179
- Short-term rental and Airbnb income
- Passive loss limits and real estate professional status
- BRRRR, flips, and wholesale deals: how each is taxed
- Hard money and DSCR loans: interest, points, and refinances
- Syndications and the K-1s that come with them
- Operating agreement review: allocations, waterfalls, and distributions
Agents and brokers
- Multi-state and Ohio municipal returns
- Quarterly estimated taxes on commission income
- Retirement plan contributions to lower your tax bill: Solo 401(k), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, or a defined benefit cash balance plan
- S election analysis: when it saves an agent money, and a reasonable salary that holds up
- Vehicle, home office, and self-employed health insurance deductions
- Brokerage and MLS fees, office expenses, marketing, and client gifts: what’s deductible and how to track it
Own rentals or sell real estate? Let’s talk through your plans.
Book a Free Discovery CallOwn a brokerage, a property management company, or another business?
See how I work with business ownersConsultations and Tax Planning
In real estate, a single decision can change your taxes by thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars, and most can’t be undone once the deal closes. Consultations and tax planning let us run the numbers on every option first, so you choose the path that keeps the most of your profit.
- Like-kind (1031) exchange versus sale analysis, including the “lazy 1031”
- Delaware Statutory Trust (DST), 721 exchange, and UPREIT evaluation
- Installment sale structuring
- Cost segregation study feasibility and depreciation planning
- Partnership and LLC planning for your properties: ownership, allocations, and distributions
- Short-term rental strategy
- Financing strategy: hard money, DSCR, and cash-out refinance planning
Buying, selling, or refinancing soon?
Run the numbers before you sign. Consultations are scoped and quoted up front, typically from $250 to $2,000 or more depending on the work.
Two ways to work together
Filing Only covers the return. The Advisory Package adds a plan for your properties and deals.
Filing Only
Starting at $700
- Federal Form 1040 with one simple rental property, small sole proprietorship, or minimal investment activity, prepared by me
- One state return and one municipal return
- Your results explained before you sign
- Electronic filing
Anything beyond that, including more than one of these, increases the price.
Advisory Package
Starting at $1,800 per year or $165 per month
- Everything in Filing Only
- Two advisory meetings each year
- Year-end tax projection
- Direct line to me throughout the year
Annual billing is $1,800. Monthly billing is $165 per month.
Find out which option fits.
Partnership and entity returns for your properties start at $1,800. Additional properties, states, municipalities, and entities increase the price, and you’ll see your exact number before you commit. See the pricing page for every package and add-on.
Beyond the package
Quick questions are included. A short call or email about a closing statement, a notice, or a form doesn’t start a new invoice.
Notices and audits. If a letter needs more than a quick answer, I can represent you before the IRS, state, and local agencies as a separate engagement, quoted up front.
The Advisory Package
A year of planning ahead
Here’s how a typical Advisory year runs for real estate owners and agents, timed around when deals and decisions usually happen.
January or sign-on
You’re billed.
Pay for the year up front, or start monthly installments.
Tax season
Your return.
Prepared, reviewed, and explained to you before you sign.
May to July
Meeting one.
Look back at the year that just closed and set the plan for this one.
September to November
Meeting two.
Check progress while there’s still time to act before year-end.
Around November 15
Your projection.
What you’ll owe, and which moves are still worth making.
Real estate Advisory may cover
- Timing purchases, sales, and refinances around your tax picture
- Depreciation planning, and whether a cost segregation study is worth a closer look
- Passive loss tracking and real estate professional status hours
- Short-term rental participation and record-keeping
- Exchange timelines when a sale is on the horizon
- Estimated payments for rental and commission income
When a sale, an exchange, or a cost segregation study is on the table, the full analysis is a separate engagement, quoted up front.
See Advisory PricingOne plan, coordinated across your advisors.
Tax decisions touch everything else: your investments, your legal structure, your insurance, your estate. When the people advising you each see only their piece, things get missed or contradict each other. I work with financial advisors, attorneys, insurance agents, brokers and more so your plan is built with all of them in the room.
Already working with a lender, attorney, or agent you trust? I’m glad to work with them. If you need someone, I can make an introduction.
Basic coordination, like sharing your projection with your lender, is part of the Advisory Package. Bigger roles, like reviewing a deal’s numbers with your team or joining a closing call, are scoped and priced up front.
How I apply the law
Real estate rules reward good records. Every position on your return is grounded in the tax code, regulations, court cases, and IRS guidance, and backed by documentation I can explain if it’s ever questioned. When the law gives real estate owners a benefit, I make sure you get it. When a position is uncertain, you’ll know the risk before you decide.
Who I’m probably not the right fit for:
- Price is your main deciding factor. My fees cover the time, research, and review that real estate returns take. I’m always happy to talk and point you in the right direction, and if price is your main concern, I can refer you to a firm that may be a better fit. I’ll be ready when you want a more hands-on advisor.
- You want to claim real estate professional status, large losses, or aggressive treatment without contemporaneous records. These positions are decided on the facts and the documentation, and I won’t take them without proper planning and support.
- You prefer very little contact with your advisor. My process depends on regular communication.
FAQ
Common Questions
Are you accepting new clients?
Yes, including rental owners, investors, and agents. Filing Only is capped at 40 returns a season, so reach out early. Advisory Package clients can start any time, which is often the best moment to plan around a deal.
Do you work with investors and agents outside Ohio?
Yes. I work fully remotely, by Zoom or phone, with documents shared through a secure client portal. If you own property in more than one state, I prepare each state return your properties require.
Can you help before I buy, sell, or refinance a property?
Yes, and that’s when planning matters most. Once a deal closes, most of the tax decisions have already been made. Consultations and tax planning are scoped and quoted up front, and they’re available whether or not you have the Advisory Package.
Which package is right for an investor or agent?
Filing Only works if your year is straightforward and you mainly need the return done right. Most active investors and agents get more from the Advisory Package, because the meetings, year-end projection, and direct line to me are where deals, estimated payments, and timing get planned. We’ll figure out which fits on the discovery call.
Will you work with my lender, attorney, or qualified intermediary?
Yes. Real estate decisions touch your financing, your entity, and sometimes an exchange, so I’m glad to coordinate with the rest of your team. Basic coordination is part of the Advisory Package. For anything more, just tell me how involved you’d like me to be, and I’ll scope and price it for you before we start.
Do you really specialize in real estate?
Yes. Real estate is one of my core focus areas. I work with rental owners, BRRRR investors, flippers, wholesalers, agents, and brokers, and I stay current on the rules that matter most to them, from depreciation and like-kind exchanges to real estate professional status.
What should I send you for my rental properties?
Closing statements for any property you bought, sold, or refinanced, your rent and expense records, mortgage interest statements, and any depreciation schedules from your prior preparer. Everything goes through your secure client portal, and I’ll tell you if anything is missing.
Let’s talk before your next deal.
Book a free discovery call and we’ll talk through your properties and plans. You’ll know what working together costs before you commit to anything.
Book a Free Discovery Call