To LLC or NOT to LLC, that is the Question!

[Tanikka Myers]

My partner and I have been "off paper" partners for almost a year... Now we are ready to make it "official"... Our current focuses in real estate are buy and holds and wholesaling. Our primary reason for getting the LLC is to ensure we can get hard money financing, however, I am having second thoughts... We have been researching this for a while, but the only TRUE benefit to LLC-ing is that we would be able to get hard money financing. Considering that we are not getting into rehabs currently, HML is a great option to have, but is it necessary? We both have 740+ credit scores, one of us has a higher debt-to-income ratio, but the other doesn't, we have a decent amount of capital between us, so qualifying for a loan in general isn't the challenge, we just want to be smart. Smart with the minimal amount WE put out of our pockets (both in purchasing and in operating), smart with the financing (making sure it makes sense and is the best way to buy) and smart with our accountability. We wanted to purchase multiple properties at once for buy and holds (2-3 at the most), but is LLC best, or should we act as "co-homeowners"... We were trying to avoid the 20% down payment for investing, but it seems inevitable. All advise from you wonderful vet investors are welcomed... I hope I gave enough information/background to understand our scenario. Thanks in advance!

Tanikka