Quit Claim out of an LLC for Re-Finance?

[James Ohliger]

I am about to purchase a short-term rental property and I'd like the property to be held within an LLC (as my other properties are). My lender tells me that since Sallie Mae guidelines allow a transfer to an LLC that is owned by me without triggering the due on sale clause, he is recommending I get a conforming loan at a lower interest rate under my name, and then use a quit claim deed to transfer into an LLC. This seems like a strategy that is used a lot by investors in these forums. However, given the high interest rate environment, my lender is also waiving future origination fees for re-financing to encourage people to get loans now and re-finance if and when rates drop in the future. In a future re-finance scenario, my property will be held within an LLC. My lender tells me that I can just quit claim deed back to my name, re-finance with a new conforming loan, and then quit claim deed again back to the LLC. He says this happens "all the time". It may be just me, but this seems a bit shady and seems to actually expose me to additional liability. For the entire time of the re-finance, the property would not be under the protection of the LLC and I would simply have to hope that I'm not exposed to litigation during that time. Ultimately, I get that people may do this to get lower rates, but it really seems messy, complicated, and risky. Is this really a strategy people would recommend to go in and out and back in to LLC ownership just to get lower interest rates?