Paying rental property in my name with my new LLC

[Michael Hebron Jr]

I have a rental property in my own name. I just recently received my LLC. I would like to transfer it to my LLC. What is my first step? Lastly, would it be legal to pay my mortgage with my LLC while I wait or find out how to transfer it into my LLC?

Thank you.

[Steve Smith]

Michael,

You've got some good advise, but sounds like you're starting out. The entity now probably doesn't matter a lot, but here's perhaps a better profile:

Buy your houses in a trust, not an LLC, have a separate trust for each one. And, yes, go to class, books and articles to learn how trusts work. They can protect you, to a point, but insurance is your first line of defense. The Trust will act like an investment.

Manage your houses with an LLC, that has an agreement with the trustee (that owns the house), to manage, which could include collecting the rent, paying the mortgage, maintenance or what ever you want. The LLC will act as a business. The profits/losses will flow to you personally unless you set up something else.

Keep your stuff separate from your wife's. There's no advantage of co-ownership and a lot of disadvantages. Put yours in your trust and hers in her trust. One LLC can still manage both but keep that as a separate ownership, too.

Now the LLC "can" own houses, but is more expensive, and little to no advantage. And you certainly don't want a bunch on them in the same LLC. Yes, creditors can go after the assets of and LLC, while you, personally, are protected.

And, once you get all of this going, there's lots more in creative ownership, trusts, IRAs, Roths, options, etc., etc., and is a lot of fun, depending on how complicated you want to get and how you create your asset and liability protection.

And, as mentioned... get some training on this, will pay off handsomely.