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Updated over 10 years ago on . Most recent reply
Making an LLC
I was thinking of putting my rental property into an llc. Any suggestions? Do I need a lawyer???
Most Popular Reply
I have mixed feelings about answering this for two reasons:
1. I am an Attorney
2. You don't have to have an Attorney to create an LLC
With that said, you may want to consult an Attorney to determine if an LLC is the right fit for your business plan. Some operate under a single LLC, others create an LLC for each property, while others incorporate and create individual LLC's or Divisions for each property within their corporation. Another option is to place all your property into a Trust. Since there are several types of trusts, and each have their own benefits, an Attorney is a good person to evaluate and guide you down the path of creating the correct vehicle to protect your investments, while creating tax benefits.
If you decide to consult an Attorney(s), make sure you pick one that understands the following subject matter: estate planning and trusts, REITs, Federal & State Taxes, business entities, real estate, and Family Law. These are the basic areas of law that work together to determine how to accomplish your personal objectives.
In case you are wondering, I keep my RE Investments simple: operate a RE Management company as an LLC, and place each property that I retain as a rental, or for the time I rehav and/or flip, into an individual LLC, with a pour-over trust to handle the distribution of my estate after my passing. I also have created a Self-Directed IRA with checkbook control and Roth option to use my retirement plan for RE Investment purposes. All of which I hired a couple of Attorneys to insure they all work together seamlessly, and they handle the annual filings for me. I could handle most of it myself, but I am not a tax expert (a very specialized area of practice) and understand my limitations.
A long about way to answer your question, but as I said in 2. above: "no", you don't need an attorney if all you want is to create an LLC. Is that all you really need?