Buying first rental cash, who's name to put title in?

[Timothy B.]

I'm interested from both lending and especially liability. We're buying our first rental. We work as missionaries showing very low income in my name and a negligible amount in wife's name.  File jointly.  Should title of property purchased cash go in one or both names to limit liability and also to optimize our ability to qualify for lending in future using the cashflow?

[Ryan Howell]

You can have a specific # of traditional loans in your name (10 I believe). If you are able to get a traditional loan only qualifying yourself or your wife individually, that allows you to get more loans later (20 vs 10 if you do them jointly). If you can't qualify individually, but combined you can, then I wouldn't hesitate to put it in both your names to get the benefit of traditional financing and low interest rates. If you can't get a traditional loan, then I would recommend an LLC as it is generally required for an asset based lender or commercial lender. As far as liability protection, look into adding an umbrella policy to protect yourself.