Protecting your personal assets

[Mike Dorneman]

The strategies for protecting / separating your personal assets from your rental business sure can keep you up at night! I’ve been investing for just over 18 months now. I’ve purchased 11 properties and BRRRed each of them. I carry 1m liability on each individual door, have an additional 1 million umbrella policy that covers my wife and I personally should the initial individual policy for any property be exhausted. Each property is “owned” by my LLC, which my wife and I own evenly. My insurance agent assures me we are appropriately insured and protected, however I’m wondering if I need to form another LLC for future properties we’ll be purchasing... Thoughts and other strategies appreciated! (I’m in Pennsylvania)

[Costin I.]

@Mike Dorneman, insurance doesn't cover you in all scenarios. Depending on your risk threshold (which is a subjective measure) and depending on how much equity and cash flow you want to protect, it might make sense to add to your insurance (regular insurance and umbrella insurance) the litigation insurance - aka, asset protection strategies.

The distribution of properties per LLC is another longer discussion. Here is a diagram that I put together to guide similar questions: