New Investor from Eastern Washington - LLC Question

[Joshua Earle]

I recently joined the BP community and I'm fascinated by the wealth of knowledge here. This is my first post and I'd like to say how great it is to have this amazing resource and be able to learn from everyone. I literally can learn something new every time I visit the site. Thanks to everyone for your great tips and for sharing your depth of knowledge on real estate investing!

After reviewing various posts on LLCs, I'm not seeing great insight on how experienced investors would start their career, if they had it to do over, with respect to using an LLC or some other entity rather than using their personal name. I should qualify this by saying that I'm not the best at searching through the forums yet so apologies if this topic has been beat to death already! I'm starting out and have a minimal foundation from which to build. After doing some shopping I am finding that the rates and terms when using an LLC are not near what I can get when investing as an individual. Also, my options appear to be much more limited. I envision adding 1 to 2 SFR properties a year for the next couple of years before hopefully scaling up, and I am considering out of state properties.

If you were starting new and had my circumstances, would you create an LLC immediately or what approach would you take? I hate to enter into less favorable terms (like 1% to 2% higher interest rates) if there is a better way to get the business off the ground.