Setting your business up correctly in the beginning means you need to meet with several professional people to gain practical knowledge.

Consider meeting with a real estate agent, banker or mortgage broker, accountant, insurance agent, attorney, and (if you want someone to manage your property for you) property manager. See the following section for details. After you have your new business name, have decided what sort of form your company will take, have met with the necessary professionals to assist you, there are a few more things to do:

  • Set up a bank account. Order preprinted deposit forms and a deposit stamp with the new business name. This saves you a bit of time in the beginning, but as you accumulate more properties, it can save you massive amounts of time and makes your business far more efficient. Seek out a bank that has online banking to save money in stamps, and even look for one that provides a day-to-day tracking of your bank account.
  • Get a P.O. box. If you don’t want your tenants to know where you live and don’t have a professional office where your tenants can mail their rent checks, get a post-office box and add a second phone line in your home (or, if you have excellent cellphone coverage in your area, get a cellphone dedicated to your business). A separate phone line can have an informational voice mail on the outgoing message. Also get an e-mail address that contains your business name instead of your personal name. Put all of this contact information on your new business cards.
  • Set up a Web site. Keep it simple – you just want a presence on the Internet. You should be able to set up a Web site quite simply and affordably; in fact, you may be surprised just how easy it really is to have your own site, which can give potential tenants information about your property.
  • Take a class, attend a workshop, or hire a professional to teach you the basics to get you started and to keep you out of trouble. There are many fabulous resources out there.
  • Plan now to own property long term. You may not own the same property forever, but you should have a plan to purchase property and build your business from there.