Does a 1031 exchange defer New York state tax, or just federal?
Both. New York follows federal Section 1031, so a properly structured like-kind exchange of investment property defers both federal and New York state capital gains — if you don’t report the gain to the IRS, you don’t report it to New York. The one New York-specific requirement is at closing: nonresidents selling New York property generally must file Form IT-2663, which addresses state withholding on the sale. We keep the books and basis records that support the exchange; your CPA handles the tax filing and your Qualified Intermediary handles the exchange mechanics.
What are the main 1031 exchange deadlines and rules?
The headline rules: you have 45 calendar days from the sale of the relinquished property to identify replacement property (commonly up to three properties under the three-property rule), and 180 days total — or your tax-filing date, if earlier — to complete the purchase. A Qualified Intermediary must hold the sale proceeds; if you take receipt or control of the funds, the exchange fails. The same-taxpayer rule means the title holder must be consistent, though that can be an LLC. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 narrowed 1031 to real property only. We don’t run the exchange — your QI and CPA do — but we keep the basis and records that make it executable.
Can you report profit by property and by entity?
Yes — it’s the heart of investor accounting. Using QuickBooks classes and clean entity separation, we structure your file so you can pull a P&L for any single property, for an entity that holds several, or for the whole portfolio. That’s what lets you see which assets earn their keep after financing and capex, which to refinance or sell, and how the portfolio actually performs — rather than a blended number that hides your weakest property behind your strongest.
I hold each property in its own LLC — does that complicate the books?
It’s common and sensible for liability protection, but it does require the books to respect each entity’s separation rather than commingling everything — otherwise the structure’s protection weakens and tax prep gets tangled. We keep each entity’s records distinct while still letting you see the consolidated portfolio. Note that forming the entities and structuring ownership is a legal matter for your attorney; our role is keeping accurate books inside whatever structure you and your attorney establish, including the New York transfer-tax and nonresident-withholding entries that come up at closing.
How do you handle tenant security deposits in New York?
As liabilities, never as income. Under General Obligations Law §7-103 a deposit stays the tenant’s money: the landlord holds it in trust, may not commingle it with personal funds, keeps it in a New York bank and tells the tenant in writing which bank holds it and how much. In a building with six or more units it must sit in an interest-bearing account, and the interest belongs to the tenant, less an administration fee of 1% a year the landlord may keep. Under §7-108 a residential deposit is capped at one month’s rent, and within 14 days of move-out the landlord returns it with an itemized statement of anything kept; miss that and the landlord forfeits the right to keep any of it. In the books, each property carries a deposit liability account reconciled every month to the deposit bank account and to the tenant ledger in your property-management system, interest owed to tenants is tracked, and each move-out posts deductions against the itemized statement. Holding the deposit correctly is the landlord’s legal duty; we keep the records that show it was done.
Do you prepare owner statements for New York property managers?
Yes. For a management company holding owners’ rents and tenants’ deposits, we keep a ledger per owner, record management fees, reserves and distributions as they happen, run collected rent through a clearing account matched to the bank, and produce a monthly owner statement that agrees to the property-management bank account and to each property’s P&L. Owner and tenant money stays out of the management company’s own operating cash, and the reconciliation report goes out with the statement.
How much does real estate bookkeeping cost in New York?
Monthly bookkeeping for a New York real-estate investor runs $500–$2,500+ per month, fixed-fee against a written scope. Pricing is set by the number of properties and entities, transaction and rent-roll volume, and whether you need CAM reconciliation or detailed per-property reporting — a single rental in one LLC is at the lower end; a multi-property portfolio across several entities higher. We quote a firm number after reviewing your books.
How do we get started?
Start with a free discovery call. We review your QuickBooks file remotely, map your properties and entities, determine whether you need a cleanup first — including basis reconstruction — or can go straight to monthly service, and send a written fixed-fee proposal within 3 business days. Your senior bookkeeper begins as soon as you approve.