llc question

[Mike Parks]

when buying rental properties, is it better to put every property in its own separate llc or should I just put all of them under one business name llc? I obviously want to limit the liability if someone were to sue etc but opening a llc for every property becomes a pain and a nuisance to keep track of for every property. not to mention the time it takes to create an llc. Any insight would be appreciated.

[Wade Sikkink]

Using multiple LLC's is unnecessarily complicated. The point of the entity is to protect your personal assets, which one properly maintained, arms length LLC will do. I would argue that most people with multiple LLC's probably don't properly maintain them. For example, each LLC has to have it's own banking and separate books, etc. If all this is not properly maintained then it will be easy for a laywer to pierce the corporate veil and you've lost the protection anyway.

Also, as your business grows, there are benefits of becoming a large, well known business in the area. People want to do business with you and you can get preferred terms, etc. You don't get this benefit if every property is a seperate business.