All Forum Posts by: Laura Richards

@Stephen I know they have one for conservation purposes but I don't know if it or another one is drafted in such a way to make them usable for investment purposes. 

@Stephen N.undefined

Land trusts are the cheapest and easiest way of doing this. Just go to Orange County Property Appraisers website and do a search under property owner Investor Trustee Services, LLC. That is my LLC that clients use to act as Trustee for land trusts. Look at the list of properties and see if you can figure out who is who.

This little research exercise will give you an idea of what land trusts can do for you. 

Yes, insurance is normally a little more expensive. I haven not found the cost to be so high  that it outweighs the benefits of having my investment homes in LT's. 

A land trust structure totally depends on the state statute creating land trusts where the property is located. Until the most recent statute updates to FL's land trust statute you did not name the same entity as both Trustee and Bene. Now, it is a possibility. 

@Christopher Adkins The simple and most important answer to this whole thread (in my humble opinion) is that it's not  going to work the way parties believe it will. 

First, a land trust, no matter how you word it, will not do anything to help a lender of any kind avoid foreclosure in Florida. I wrote an entire blog about it and cited many cases to support that opinion. There are certainly good reason for lenders to require that properties be in a land trust with this structure, but avoidance of foreclosure is not one of them. 

With that said, this deal screams for simplicity. Go ahead and use seller finance, but just do a straight Mortgage and Note. If a default occurs the lender can file foreclosure, offer cash for keys, get a Deed in Lieu, etc. 

@Eddie T., home insurance is usually a little more expensive, but I have all of my rentals in trusts and (to me) the cost does not outweigh the benefit. Just be sure you have an insurance agent that specifically caters to real estate investors. 

I have an entire blog series on land trust that will probably answer all of your questions. It's a 4 part series and is here on bigger pockets or www.richardslawfirm.blogspot.com

@ Charles 

@Charles Biter is totally correct. Go ahead and make it an insured transaction with owners policy so that you know about anything else attaching to the property, the correct outstanding balance, etc. 

@Rich Hupper I am not familiar with MA licensing or corporate structures so I'm really of no help. So sorry. I'd assume MA has licensing advice hotlines similar to FL that could help you. A really good accountant would also be worth the money for this situation.

Sorry @Toi H. I am not familiar with Alabama. 

a few people have messaged me about the start up. BP may tag my response for mentioning it directly on here, but I'll give it a shot anyway. It's www.Kuzza.com.