Sorry to keep you waiting! Tax time is always the busiest time of the year for us. We usually have 2 huge bags of receipts, and have to log those in every year. Not to mention credit card statements, bank statements, bank ledgers, and rental ledgers. This year, I started in February, logging receipts onto ledgers. Even with all of the time that we had, it still took until April 15, to tally up the numbers and enter it onto the 1040! If you have multiple businesses, and/or multiple properties, tax time can be very time consuming and challenging. For us, in 2007, we had sold 2 properties, and will have 3 that we will have sold for 2008. We will talk about capital gains in a later post.
Let's talk about the real estate industry in general. There really is no industry that you can make money in so many ways as the real estate industry. Think about it... if you decide to sell real estate as a realtor, you make money, if you act in the capacity of mortgage originator, and find a loan for a buyer to buy real estate, you make money, if you settle real estate in the capacity of a settlement company or attorney, you make money, etc., etc. etc. This does not include real estate foreclosure purchases and "flips", commercial real estate rentals, residential real estate rentals, real estate foreclosure purchases and rentals, and many more areas that you can make money from. It all depends on you! What are you good at? If you are sales-oriented, like paperwork, and are detail oriented, then real estate sales are for you. If you would rather fix up a house either for rental or sale, then distressed properties are what you are looking for. Be aware though that this industry is highly knowledge driven. If you do not know what you are doing, or are just new in this industry, then go slowly, study, ask experienced people in the same part of the industry, and above all, find a mentor. Keep in mind that the people that you do NOT want to talk to are: friends and/or family that have never bought a house, customers that are new to real estate, people that do not have the drive required for real estate, or anyone else that have numerous stories about the horror stories they have heard about real estate. Over the last twenty-plus years, I have met many people who have numerous stories about the horrors of real estate. The one common thread that binds these people is: they have no investment real estate of their own. I have found that those people who own or who have owned multiple properties, have stories, but they are not horror stories. Usually, these people (investors) have nothing but good to say about real estate investments. These same investors will tell you that it is a very time-consuming industry, and that there is no "get rich quick" way to make money.
If you are ready to start making money in a wonderful money-making industry, then start studying and gaining knowledge, look at all of the different "fingers" of the real estate industry, find a mentor, and take a step! Real estate is where it's at! See you later!