I'm new to all of this. Hoping to dive into podcasts, youtube videos and other free items to learn all about land investing. That being said, where did each one of you start on your journey?
I've read the "Land Investors Guide to Getting Started" document on retipster.com, but have some first initial questions...
1. Do you create a company email account separate from your personal? If so, is a gmail domain sufficient?
2. Do you obtain a new bank account for this business? In anticipation of buying and selling does the costs come out and in of that account?
These are just some first blush questions, and sorry if they seem obvious, just new to everything...
1. Yeah, I would start a separate email account, and yeah, gmail is fine (that's what I've been using all these years).
2. This is a good idea... but it is a bit of a commitment to set one up (requires a trip to the bank, paperwork, a few extra steps and time in doing it), so you'll want to be fairly confident you're going to give it a good shot. You don't NEED to do this, but it's something pretty much everyone does at some point... and if you decide to set up an LLC for your business, it's something you'll basically have to do in order to keep your financials separate.
Hope that helps! If anyone else has any opinions, feel free to chime in.
Hi @Dane-Kolar - I'm pretty new to land investing as well, but can echo the same things @retipsterseth mentioned. I just set up a separate gmail account with company name as the first part of the address, and it works fine.
Regarding the bank account, I think it's definitely beneficial to set up a separate account, even if it's not a business account. For me, the organizational component is just so much better when you're not mixing personal and business transactions. Later on, this can be really beneficial too if you want to look at any sort of financial metrics for your business. It can be pretty difficult to track down expenses, etc. when they're mixed in with all of your personal finances.
1. I do recommend creating a company email, it's just easier to track messages and to keep your personal emails separate. I'm currently using a gmail account, and I think it's fine, but IMO there's an extra level of professionalism with a company email. 2. I do recommend creating a company bank account. Originally I used my personal, but it got way too confusing (and time consuming), to manage and keep track of everything. All buying and selling funds do come in and out of that account.
No worries of these first questions! We're all still learning and I think it's great to have these discussions. I may have things set up inefficiently as well, so I like to browse these groups and see what's working for others.