All Forum Posts by: Paige Laliberte

Hello everyone! I hope you are all staying healthy during these times. I have seen a couple questions on the topic of where the business owner rents a property their LLC owns, but I am asking about the reverse.

Right now, I am in the beginning stages of buying my first rental property. I know that I do not what to be unprotected, which is why I have formed an LLC for my property, however, I am still unsure how to go about using the LLC to protect me when I am getting a personal, not commercial mortgage for the property.

I will be the technical owner of the property, not the LLC, as the mortgage would be under my name. Is it possible for me to rent the property to my LLC, with a lease stating the LLC is free to rent to others, in charge of all maintenance, etc, and then pass any liability from renting to 3rd parties on the the LLC?

I hope this makes sense. Looking forward to hear everyone's thoughts!

@Michael Ealy I just started reading through your 3 part forum posts about your success. You are such an inspiration!

Your vertical intégration is exactly what my goals are and I am glad to see you do find it to be cost saving. Do you hire on people as employees, or do they remain as independent contractors?

After reading so many of your stories about hiring contractors, using property managers, etc, I have yet to see much information about any vertically integrated companies on here.

It is probably a bit of a pipe dream, but one of the big real estate goals I have is to own a company that can do everything for me without having to hire out for much. I would love to have contractors that I pay directly doing work on the homes I bought from real estate agents that work for me. While this might not be at all feasible for me, I was wondering if it is even possible at all!

Do you all know of anyone such vertically integrated companies? Maybe you own them or have a friend who does. If you don’t know of any, do you think it is a impossible goal to be striving for?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

@Jill F. Thank you so much for the great advice. You have given me and my fiance a lot to think about. I do remember how poorly renovated many of the houses my friends in the area lived in during their college years (ie bedrooms split with curtains and shoddily built basement bathrooms), so that is something I am aiming to improve on. 

Nice quality rentals that are well done is my definite aim; I am glad to hear you are having such success with them!
 

@Jill F. Replying to you again because I just saw your second comment. Thank you so much for the detailed information!

I haven’t lived in the Akron area since UA expanded the student housing on their campus. Do you feel that this expansion has started to dry up the demand for off campus university housing?

From what I have been reading, it does seem like it would be a better idea for me to focus less on UA centered areas and more on Firestone, Goodyear, and Highland Square. I know the university has been declining in the last five or ten years and they seem to keep cutting more and more majors. I suppose that doesn’t bode well for a student rental market.

@James Galla very good point. If I am going to be buying one of the many $30k houses floating around in that area, I will probably be getting what I am paying for.

@Jill F. I have several friends who live in Highland Square and I do agree about the price. The area is probably one of the nicer ones in Akron, but the cost is a little high for someone getting started.

Do you believe that the upsides of the Highland Square might make it a better investment in the long run? Though I could probably get two homes in Firestone for what I would pay for one in HS, do you find the benefits of the neighborhood outweigh the potential of two cash flow streams?

@Aurora Cooper by East Akron I meant the area with Lovers Lane cutting directly through it, so that does seem to rule it out!

Thank you very much, @James Galla. What are your thoughts on East Akron? It is sandwiched between South Akron and Middlebury, but it is closer to the University than Goodyear Heights, however I don't know if the surrounding area issues bleed into the neighborhood.

Absolutely. Though I am not an experienced landlord, I have rented for several years now and I would never rent a place without a dishwasher. Other units are almost guaranteed to have them and, at least in my circle, the renters I know expect them.

I would much rather have a dishwasher than more cabinet space.