Deciding what property and rental scenario is most secure.

[Luciana M.]

Hello and thank you for taking a minute to read this!

I am a Tenant in Common "owner" and this home is placed in a Trust. However, I am also looking at buying a condo in Northern Virginia

I am trying to figure out the best rental-income scenario, but with the lowest liability. 

I could move out and rent my current home, and net about $800/month after property management fees (I would prefer that at least in the beginning) and some portion set aside for fixtures. However, I am not sure that I can put a house that is in a trust inside of an LLC, so is my only liability option here an umbrella insurance?

Alternatively, I could establish an LLC and buy and rent the condo, but...I would likely be losing $500/month because of the purchase price vs rent factor. The area I am looking in would result in a slightly higher mortgage than I could rent for...initially. I could also house hack the condo, but I'm still worried about liability and would be worried about being a landlord living with tenants. I figured I could bypass this by living in my own LLC...but I think I would miss out on valuable tax benefits, and I'm not sure an LLC would actually cover me in this scenario.

Any other options?

Apart from the awesome folks here, should I engage a real estate lawyer and a real estate CPA? And if so, any advice on what to ask outside of these scenarios?

Thank you soooooo much!