Process for Tenants in Common

[Alice He]

Hi!

I'm planning to purchase real estate with my boyfriend as tenants in common, since purchasing through an LLC is complicated with his visa status.

Does anyone know what the process is to become tenants in common? For example, do we pay a lawyer to draft an agreement like a deed, or is it as simple as signing a paper when asked who has title to the property?

What bank accounts should be opened for book keeping purposes? We're thinking of the following, but it seems like a lot!

1. A joint checking account for rental deposits and joint expenses.

2. Individual real estate related checking account that we individually fund to pay for expenses incurred on the joint credit card and when I want to transfer rental income from the joint account.

3. A joint credit card for expenses incurred on the property.

4. Individual credit card for when we want to keep track of expenses we indivudally incur related to real estate (eg. REIA membership dues, business meal, etc)

Any guidance would be much appreciated!

[Corina Eufinger]

I don't see the need for so many  business accounts.  You could get by with 1 checking (monthly property expenses), 1 savings (escrow, deposits, etc), and one credit card (purchase you want/need to finance). It seems like it comes down to a concern about bookkeeping, and honestly the more accounts you add the more complicated bookkeeping becomes. Invest in Quickbooks, Appfolio (if you are doing buy and hold), etc for bookkeeping and simplify the number of bank accounts you have.  Use the software programs to track your expenses through general ledger accounts.  

I say the above from experience.  I once had numerous accounts for my real estate ventures: 1 checking for management, 1 checking for payroll, 2 management savings, 1 properties owned checking, 2 properties owned savings.  I am now down to management checking, payroll, checking, property checking, and property savings. I have actually spent less time on bookkeeping since making it simplified like that.