Finance Strategy Question

[Garrett Stembridge]

I owe $100K on a rental I own in my name  and also have approx $100K in cash.  I’ve been wanting to star an llc and move it under that, but I would burn my cash reserves to do it.  Would it be better to just keep it as is so that I have cash available for another rental, or use the cash to pay it off and move it under an llc, and then try to cash out refinance?   I also currently have a $35K Heloc available (4.5%) on the rental that would close if I paid of the mortgage.  

[Kerry Baird]

I do have an LLC set up, and the general idea is that you only could see the benefit of the entity protection when you have $250k in equity. Insurance works really well. If I were in the same situation, I'd contact my CPA and lawyer for advice; and likely leave it alone for now.