CPA Advice

[jhayx7]

My wife and I have purchased a condo in downtown Birmingham. The city is going through an urban-renewal right now and we got in early (yay). Now for my many questions. We do not want to stay here long (2-3 years), we purchased this condo for the sole purpose of making a profit. We are making improvements that will increase the value of the place and make it more attractive than the other condos in the area.

Now, this next year I am thinking about hiring a CPA to help out on taxes since this is my first house and I have no idea about them. I usually do my own taxes but I figure he can show me a few tax tricks.

What should I look for in hiring a good CPA?

 

[krunchykrome]

Originally posted by: jhayx7
My wife and I have purchased a condo in downtown Birmingham. The city is going through an urban-renewal right now and we got in early (yay). Now for my many questions. We do not want to stay here long (2-3 years), we purchased this condo for the sole purpose of making a profit. We are making improvements that will increase the value of the place and make it more attractive than the other condos in the area.

Now, this next year I am thinking about hiring a CPA to help out on taxes since this is my first house and I have no idea about them. I usually do my own taxes but I figure he can show me a few tax tricks.

What should I look for in hiring a good CPA?

Make sure he's a CPA

 

[jhayx7]

Did we have a happy birthday?

 

[HomeAppraiser]

Set your TIVO for Flip This House. They just did a condo remodel episode.

 

[jhayx7]

Originally posted by: HomeAppraiser
Set your TIVO for Flip This House. They just did a condo remodel episode.

I love that show

Thing is, ours is a new development so we have very little work to do.

 

[EagleKeeper]

If you have lived in the place during the time you have owned it, then any of the standard tax s/W programs on the market will take you through everything you will need to do.

If you are renting the unit; then the Schedule E will cover everything you need - just have every scrap of paper available for reference of expenses.

If you are living in the unit, the you only need your closing statement along with documents from the people that hold the note(if you financed it).

Again, the tax S/W will walk you through what you need to do and perform that calculations for you.

A CPA (no offense Keith) is good for complex financial matters that have a multitude of paperwork and cash flow problems. Even then; you need to provide them with the information.

In your situation, a little reading, paying attention to the forthcoming tax thread and common sense will help you save more $$ than pulling a Wesley Snipes/Mike Tyson/John Dillinger.