International investor buying US real estate

[Raymond Chan]

I'm new to US real estate market and planning to start investing. Couple of questions.

1. Is it better to hold the property via personal name or LLC? I'm inclined to LLC as I was told LLC offers better protection and may have better tax treatment.

2. Seems it is pretty difficult to get mortgage from US banks. I can only find a few banks for it, but the minimum loan amount is 100K USD and the rate is a bit higher. > 5% for 30 years fix rate. Wonder if there is any better option.

3. Seems it is even more difficult to get mortgage with LLC. The process time is much longer. I need to pay extra legal fees and extra cash in bank account as guarantee. Wonder if there is any better option.

Appreciate for sharing experience and sharing advice.

Thanks.