Asset management for multiple properties

[Matt Morales]

Hey everyone, I have a question about asset management when it comes to multiple properties. Specifically speaking in terms of how to financially manage it. Before I get to my question I want to make clear I am not asking about liability concerns; this is strictly a financial question. I currently have two rental properties and working on a third. I personally own them both, no LLC. Again, I know there's strong opinions on to have one or not but this is not about that… anyway, I am very organized and separate all Income and expenses from my personal bank account, and each rental. Each rental has its own bank account, I have spreadsheets for each showing what income and expenses were from what property. However, the more I acquire I can see that system can be quite cumbersome so my question is as follows:

Should I start an LLC as an asset management company to manage my assets? Meaning ALL rental income/ expenses flow in/ out of the LLC. One bank account, one spreadsheet to manage… just seems like it will streamline and make things easier. Thoughts? Thanks for any feedback and look forward to the insight!

[Joe Norman]

I don't see how starting an LLC will make things less cumbersome. If you do that you'll have extra tax returns, filings, new bank accounts, etc.

If all you're trying to do is combine your accounting then do just that - merge your separate accounts and do everything out of that one. It doesn't need to be an account owned by an LLC it can still be in your personal name.

Its also probably worth investing the time into learning an accounting software like QuickBooks as you will probably grow out of your spreadsheet method quickly.

Good luck!