Legalzoom or Attorney For LLC - buying property with cash

[Michael D.]

Hello everyone, I am a fairly newly licensed MA Realtor and am about to purchase my first multi-family property in Western Massachusetts. I’ve done some flips in the past that I’ve lived in and resold years later, but this will be my first multi family property to rent out, and I’ll be buying it cash. Without it being financed, I have some additional concerns over keeping things anonymous and ensuring that an LLC is set up properly for protection. A local real estate attorney has quoted me $1,000 to establish an LLC, in addition to the MA filing fee. Any thoughts on going this route versus just establishing the LLC on Legalzoom for half the cost? I just want to make sure that with Legalzoom I wouldn’t be missing out on something that the attorney would’ve otherwise done in setting it up. Thanks in advance for any input!

[Ann Bellamy]

An LLC provides no privacy protection.

And if you know the difference between manager managed and member managed, then by all means go ahead and use Legal Zoom. But you don't need Legal Zoom to create the LLC, you can do that online mass.gov for just the filing fee. Perhaps Legal Zoom is providing the operating agreement also, I don't know.

$1000 for an LLC operating agreement and corresponding legal work is about the going rate in MA, and they help you ask all the "what if" questions that you haven't even thought of, and help you define what will happen if something happens.

Until you are knowledgeable enough to know all the answers to the questions you don't even know to ask yet, I'd use a professional.  But make sure to get your money's worth and ask them all the what if questions.  and ask them "What questions have I not thought to ask you that I should have?"  A good attorney will help educate you and will be well worth the cost.