Should I create a company from which I purchase a duplex as a first time home buyer

[Chris Frydenlund]

Hey BP members!

I'm from Denmark, Europe moving to Austin, TX, with my wife from Houston, TX. I have a great passion for REI, but here in Denmark the options are far more limited for a young man like me. Since we're moving to Texas I now see it as possible to start my REI. So I'm reading a lot of articles about REI in America, and it has taught me a lot. My concern is still that there are some things that America does different from Denmark that I don't understand, so hopefully you BP members can help me solve those questions.

I posted my first topic 4 days ago about moving to Austin, TX looking for a single family home as first time buyer. I wanted to hear from the locals about where I should be looking for a home and the responses I received have taught me a lot about where to look for a home under 200K and where not to consider.

But the thought of buying a home with the hopes of incurring a profit in the end may not be as realistic as I once thought. Ali Boone made this even more clear to me (read her article) in my second post where I asked if it's a bad idea to buy a single family home as first time buyer, instead of renting if I need to save for my dream home.

Brandon Turner explains why buying a duplex instead of a single family home is a smart choice as a beginner's first investment property in his article. The duplex idea is not common in Denmark, so it never crossed my mind.

In just 4 days you BP members have been a great help. It's great to have someone to guide you on the way. Thank you all! I even managed to convince my wife that buying a duplex is the smartest thing to do, if we want to have a good start as new parents with new jobs while paying off school loans and saving for our dream home.

So, now I'm wondering whether I should/can buy our first home (duplex) in a company's name?

In Europe we hear about some scary cases about someone who sues someone else for no reason, and it ends up costing the defendant a whole lot of money. I want to make sure this business won't hurt my family. In Denmark you create a company that owns the properties and in case something happens it will only hurt your company, not yourself. So we'll never end up having to pay something from our own pocket, but the company will until there's no more money in the company and it shuts down. And since the purchase of our first duplex won't be the last, I thought it would be smart to create this company from the beginning, so everything runs through that. Is this possible, and if it is, which options do I have?