Suggestions for business entity in Colorado

[Nathan Hayes]

Hey folks. 

I know there are lots of posts and an inordinate amount of information in the thread about business entities.  There was not much that I could see that really answered my question without sitting down with an attorney.  I'd prefer to have an idea what my plan is before I have that meeting.

What are preferences for business structure for folks here in Colorado?  I'll outline my own thoughts to start the process. 

With my personal goal being to flip homes for a few years, then start acquiring rental properties to build more passive income, I'm wondering if I should have a generic holding company, then create individual entities as needed.  The way I view that would be a company that manages purchase and sale of investments (XYZ investments), which is a wholly owned subsidiary of XYZ Holdings.  Once I acquire rentals, I can create an entity for them individually or as a group based on attorney/CPA advice at that time.

Is this a good plan for business structure?  If so, what entity types should be used  for the various levels?  Or am I at the point where I just need individual advice from an attorney?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Bill S.]

@Nathan Hayes sadly the answer will come in the person you hire. If you hire someone that sets up holding companies, etc then surprise, surprise, that's the structure they recommend. My advise would be to figure out a couple approach that you are considering, find a few different attorneys that specialize in each approach and then do a consultation with them and see how they defend their approach against the other approaches you are considering. 

Now it's my opinion that you are wasting time and money trying to figure all this out when you should be spending that (time and money) on finding a deal. In reality, what do you have to loose? The biggest failure in real estate is not buying real estate. Not saying to be crazy but you are headed to a dead end. In my experience 98% (probably 99.8%) of those that want to get all their ducks in a row before they do a deal, never do a deal.