Umbrella Liability instead of LLC?

[Diane Stinebaugh]

I'm having trouble following all the rules of the game.  I want to buy a rental house with a convention 30 yr fixed...

but secondary markets don't want to lend to an LLC?

but if I want to have the rent house in my name only and not joint with my husband I would have to have and LLC.

so if I wanted an LLC I can't have a conventional loan.

am I getting this right?

[Joe Splitrock]

@Diane Stinebaugh I am with @Russell Brazil on this one. The advantages of a long term, low interest, fixed loan via conventional mortgage are too good to pass up. Also it could be difficult to get a loan in a new LLC which has no credit. Some will suggest you take out a personal mortgage and then deed the property over to your LLC. This probably violates your loan terms and seems to make it easy to pierce the LLC. Any attorney could argue that the loan is in your personal name and you only put the property in an LLC for liability protection. You would be paying a personal loan with LLC funds each month which is really it is no different than using your personal accounts to pay bills. Get a good umbrella policy and most importantly make sure you are not letting unsafe conditions exist at your property. The best way to limit liability is to avoid it.