Q. Also, what is the difference between a real estate agent, realtor, buyers agent, and listing agent?? Cant a real estate agent and realtor be a listing agent and buyers agent? I am SOOO confused?

A. A real estate agent is a person who list and sells houses and a realtor is basically the same thing, But when contact a realtor, its an office and you usually ask a question about real estate, You ask I am calling about a house I am interested in looking at and I need to speak to an agent. The receptionist will pass you to an agent which is a realtor, Now it mostly one in the same. Now this agent works for a Real estate Broker. Which has a different kind of license than an a real estate agent. In other words when you walk into a real estate office and you see several desk with a person behind each one you just walked into room of realtors.

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Q. I work for a real estate property management company. Every month the clients of our firm receive the following: Profit & Loss on their rental property Balance Sheet Rent Roll Copy of Bank account reconciliation Notes the explain the accounting treatment of certain expenses. Now it is tax time and the CPA’s are driving me nuts. Some of them want copies of every monthly bank reconciliation. Why? Some of them want copies of IRS form W-3 to prove the wages paid to employees. Excuse me but a W-3 does not prove wages were paid. Canceled checks prove that. One CPA called and yelled at me yesterday because her P&L did not match my P&L. I had to tell a CPA her P&L won't match mine because my P&L has every single expense on it including expenses that are not deductible for tax purposes. Deductible or not, the expense was incurred and paid. Our P&L flags the expenses we believe are non deductible. These CPA’s are doing full audits in my opinion. Other tax preparers rarely ask for the above documents. They seem to put more trust in their clients or they know their clients are responsible for any under reporting of income. Can anyone tell me why these CPA’s are plugging away at every nickel and penny? It is annoying.

A. >>>"These CPA’s are doing full audits in my opinion." That's their job! I don't believe the CPA "yelled at you." Sounds like what one of my teenagers says when I ask them to pick up towels off the bathroom floor. Your P&L should not list nondeductible expenses. Nondeductible expenses are listed as distributions to owners in the equity section of the balance sheet. Your CPA is attempting to make sure you're in compliance with the tax law. If the books and records you provide for your CPA need adjustments to make sure you're in compliance, they need to ask questions. I'm sure it's very easy for you to push the "Print" button and produce P&L statements, balance sheets, rent rolls, bank account reconciliations, and accounting treatment for your clients. But preparing a tax return for a business where the contact is uncooperative is much more difficult than it looks. CPAs spend a lot of money on Errors and Omissions insurance, and their biggest threat is from income tax engagements. When something goes wrong, even if it's not the CPAs fault, if they fail to identify fraud or any other source of noncompliance, the fingers point at them and they have to pay big settlements. Of course you wouldn't be the first one to cry foul and point at the CPA if something went wrong with your return.

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Q. The situation is this. The place is one year old. Current owner paid $179,000. I have been proposed a situation where he will sell to me after two years for $205,000 with no closing costs. (A portion of rent over the duration of the two years will be applied towards this.) My rent over this period would be $1000 per month which is lower than his current morgage and lower than the morgage I would have if I tried to obtain financing to purchase today. This will give me an opportunity to set aside money in a savings to put a small down payment on the place and allow me to get my finances and credit in line. I would be taking a risk that the property would appreciate to that point by that time. Other units in this community are going for around 190,000 now of the same features. I will be a first time home buyer at that time. I feel like I need to get into the real estate market now so I have an opportunity to move into larger and nicer areas by the time I have children. Please offer advice

A. Wouldn't it make more sense to rent for 2 years while you save $, and than buy the town home, or one like it, in a typical transaction? It seems like the only benefit to you here is that you COULD save some money IF prices go up more than 10% in the next 2 years. I guess it MIGHT make sense if your typical rent for a similar property was close to $1,000 and you were getting a significant amount of credit from your rent payment.

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Q. I own a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom house and I was wondering if it would be worth the time, effort, and money to add on another bathroom and another bedroom making it a 3 Br 2 Ba. I would be turning the garage into the bedroom and the breezeway into the bathroom so I don't have to add on any rooms or pour any concrete, I just have to put up wiring, insulation, flooring, and walls ect. Any experts in Real Estate or Construction, I would like your input please. I'm in the Florida Panhandle in an area with reasonable growth and about 35 minutes to the beach.

A. It depends on the neighborhood. The resale of your house goes by the comparisons of your neighborhood. Are most of the homes 2 bedroom or 3 bedroom? Turning the garage is a good idea if you are needing the space but when you go to sell the house, you may have some problems. I am a realtor and most buyers want a house with a garage.

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Q. I was just wondering. If a person owns like 1 acre lot in a cheap Florida neighborhood and he wants to build a nice house (more like mansion) on it, what will be a rough estimate for total construction. I know an estimate cannot be decided until architect completes his work first, but just wanted to get an idea. The house will be about 10,000-15,000 sq feet on a 1 acre lot. The whole house will have a marble floor throughout and the house will be total of 2 floors (with high roofs for each floor) with inner as well as outer swimming pool. Also, according to the estimate (that you come up with), approximately what will be the property tax on it. The whole house is NOT 1 acre, but rather about 10-to-15 thousand sq ft on 1 acre lot. Thanks

A. It will cost well over one million dollars and the estimated annual taxes will be at least $25k or more.

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Q. I would like to know the better practices for home improvement services. How to approach customers, provide estimates on flooring, disclaimers to be included on estimate and invoices, etc.

A. Check some of the flooring manufacturers websites for their disclaimers. Check local home depot/lowes stores to see what they charge per sq ft. I have seen 2.37 but know handymans charge 2.00/sq ft get fliers and leave on car windsheilds at the hardware stores/malls/etc. get business cards made call local flooring wholesalers and leave your business cards/brochures and or partner with them. Take a small ad out with the church news flyer Talk with real estate/mortgage brokers and leave your info with them. Talk with builders/construction companies and offer your services. Go to library and check out some books on contracts etc. Check out the construction guidebooks at Lowes/Hoem depot good luck

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Q. I need to install a subfloor in my basement before carpetting; there are a thousand flooring contractors (hardwood, ceramic tiles etc.) listed in the phonebook but no subflooring contractors. Can you recommend any that are in my area ?

A. Contact major real estate offices in your area, as well as reputable stores which carry flooring of all types. They will recommend contractors, but make sure you follow up by contacting the Better Business Bureau ( or your country's equivalent) and all references. Good luck and be CAREFUL! If you have any questions, please e-mail me.

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Q. Hi All, The property manager suggested vinyl flooring in the kitchen of a 1 bedroom apartment instead of current old carpet. I understand it is easier to clean and might look better however will it not be less warm in the apartment as a result if I replace it with vinyl flooring instead fo a new carpet? Also, carpet is around $2/sq ft including everything. what is an average simple vinyl flooring price per sq ft? The structure is a little unique - the apartment in question is a ground level basement. I heard if floor is not lifted carpet is better for the reaosn mentioned above (heating) but not sure. how can I tell if it is lifted or not? (The unit will be rented out soon, it's a rental business) THANK YOU, Neil

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