Fair amount to pay for having an LLC setup?

Question

I am ready to start an LLC for me and my wife's investment company. What would you consider a fair price to setup an LLC properly?

We looked into having Garret Sutton's company from the Robert Kiyosaki books do it. His company wanted around $1,950 to set up a Wyoming LLC with our NC LLC parked inside of it for extra protection. And his company would be the registered agent (and file all associated paper work each year for $200 per state)

Also do I need to have one house in our portfolio per LLC?

I don't have any other #'s to compare their companies offerings to.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

@Lee Haenschen you can set up a Wyoming LLC all by yourself for around $50. Go to the Wyoming Secretary of State website for the form and instructions. There are far too many novice investors on this forum telling people they have got to set up an LLC immediately or someone's going to sue and steal their house. It's an unfounded claim and the benefits of an LLC are real but often greatly exaggerated. Before setting up an LLC, and especially before setting up an LLC for each individual property, I recommend you do some more research on what an LLC protect you from and what it takes to ensure that protection remains in place. If you don't operate your LLC properly, you could lose all the benefits it provides. I own 20 units in my personal name. I know investors with 50 or more rentals that have been owned under their personal name for decades. None of them have ever been sued and none of them have ever lost the property. If you really want to protect your assets, there are two things far more important than an LLC or even an umbrella insurance policy: know and follow the law, and treat your tenants honestly and fairly.

Steve K. · Answer

@Lee Haenschen I found it quick and easy to set up LLC’s for our properties. Cost was $50 per each. Not sure why one would need a lawyer to do so as long as you have a computer and 20-30 minutes. I did speak with our attorney before hand and he basically said he’d be happy to do it for a fee, but he also advised me to go to the state website and fill out the form and pay $50 rather than pay him $1500 for the same result. He also cautioned that LLC’s aren’t as bombproof as the gurus lead us to believe. For $50 why not, but be advised that whether you spend $50 or $2000 it’s not going to provide 100% protection. I did it mostly because we were self managing then and I didn’t want our personal names or home address tied to our rentals. When we had our first eviction I was glad the tenant wouldn’t be able to easily look up the property owner and see all our info right there, but rather an LLC and it’s PO Box, that’s worth $50 in my opinion. Probably not $2000 though. $2000 buys a lot of diapers.

Account Closed · Answer

Set it up yourself. Google some for your state. Is there a reason you are wanting two LLC’s?

Bob Floss II · Answer

@Lee Haenschen Filing the LLC doesn't take much work, although I have seen people mess it up. The real work is putting together the operating agreement. It can take several days and a dozen drafts going back and forth with the clients before I have the final version. I don't mind that people do it themselves, I get it, we all want to save money. I just worry that when a partnership runs into trouble, the operating agreement pulled off google will be of no help.

Carolyn Schoettler · Answer

I had my attorney set up the LLC for $310, including filing. It took the guess work out of the process and if anything goes wrong, she will be there to back me up. Worth the few extra $$ in my opinion.

Scott Smith · Answer

This comes down to what you are paying for. The documents an experienced attorney write up for you will include language that will protect you. I have seen many "template" LLC documents put together that are essentially just a waste of time, if it isn't done right you aren't actually protecting you at all. On the flip side, I also know many investors and friends who can throw together their own LLCs and just pay for a Registered Agent to sign for them. To each their own. Most of my clients find having me on their team a tremendous asset because it allows them to focus on their investments instead of always running around taking care of different entities and questions. I would just encourage you to shop around a bit and decide what is the best business and personal decision based on your personal portfolio and goals.

Caleb Heimsoth · Answer

@Lee Haenschen you don’t need to spend 2k to set this up. Just do it yourself. Do one llc. Don’t do multiple llc

Joseph Bramante · Answer

@Lee Haenschen we use incorp.com and have about 20 LLC s with them.

Jerry W. · Answer

With a credit card it is $102 to set up an LLC in Wyoming. You need a registered agent within Wyoming to do that. There are companies that provide that service and a principal place of business for $25 to $200 per year. There are lots of those companies listed on the secretary of states website. I don't begrudge an attorney charging a lot more if they provide service via education, etc., but a couple of grand to do a 30 minute filing seems a bit high. The operating agreements are a bit more expensive depending on how complicated they get.

Michael Ablan · Answer

@Lee Haenschen I usually pay $1200-$1500 for mine