All Forum Posts by: Patricia Smith

Hi again,

I was wondering if it would make sense to ask Brandon and Josh to do a Podcast about this very topic. It is great to listen to Grant Cardone or Chris Voss BUT for a newbie investor and maybe also for the experienced investor it would be so helpful to listen to an attorney-CPA-Team explaining how to set up your asset protection structure. 

And if they could explain it in an easy way instead of getting one even more confused (see Podcast 269 - how the new tax code affects...) - now that would be a life changer! 

What are your thoughts on this?

@Jonathan James Look,

Hi Jonathan, I see I still have a lot to learn. It seems easy, but it is not. This is why I love BP. So much great advice. So many viewpoints. I also agree with you about having one LLC per property. In that case Series LLC would be a good option but only in the states that recognize them (such as Delaware, Texas, etc.)

Thank you very much for the link to Joe Fairless. I will definitly listen to it. He was also great on the BP Podcast 227 and shared good advice. 

@Costin I.,

I see it the same way as you Costin. But there's one thing I am confused about. In the Clayton Morris Podcast with Scott Smith he recommends to put each and every single house into ONE single LLC and not just the cash cow. Doesn't it get more risky to put more then one house into an LLC or is it a money matter because if you don't use Series LLC you pay a lot more to set them up? Thanks, Patricia

@Jonathan James Look,

Hello Jonathan,

thank you for your advice. I didn't know that you can get a first free advice from a lawyer. About the trust: I read quite a bit on it on Scott Smith's website. He is an attorney located in Texas, specialized in working with RE investors. He appeared on the Clayton Morris Podcast and talked about Series LLC's. Here is what I got from his website (it has quite some info) :

"Land trusts offer a way to hold property anonymously. The benefit of anonymous ownership is that it can stop a lawsuit from happening in the first place. This type of structure hides your ownership from the public eye, thereby prevent potential lawsuits."

A Trust Is The Castle Protecting Your Assets

Let's say you have all your property held in an LLC and want to transfer each of those properties into individual trusts.

The first step toward developing your asset protection plan is to establish an irrevocable trust. You can hold property in the name of this trust instead of your LLC or personal name. Now that the trust owns the property, you or your LLC are merely beneficiaries. This entitles you to the income from the property without exposing you to liability.

In a dispute regarding the property, the opposing party will only be able to collect against the asset of the Trust, the Trust property, which hopefully has limited equity. Why do I hope that the Trust property have limited equity? The lawsuit that is filed against the Trust is limited to recovery against the Trust property.

If the mortgage on the property is close to the value of the property, then there isn’t enough equity in the property to justify a lawsuit. Remember, the litigation attorney only gets paid after he auctions off the property and pays off all the liens including the mortgage. And it just so happens that there are several ways to hide the equity in your property.

If you want to read more about it, this is the link: Land Trusts explained

I hope I could provide the right answer to you and I hope I understood the role of a land trust correctly. There is so much info about it but I would say it is a protection in a protection. An other wall to break through in case of a lawsuit.

Happy to help :-)

And happy to meet someone here who had a good time in Munchen. Great but expensive city ;-)

Wouldn't invest there as a newbie ...

Hello Frank,

I highly recommend the Book "Never split the difference" by Chris Voss. He was an one of the podcast here on BP. A former FBI negotiator. Brandon and him do a buyer/ seller negotiation at the end of this podcast (no 260). Fantastic!

@Keegan Lunsford, hello from Salzburg in Austria!

If you don't mind I would be very greatful if you could send me the list of the contractors!

Thank you and have a great day Keegan,

Patricia

Hello John,

I am new to BP and a Newbie to REI. But I have some great recommendations: The way I came to REI was through Rich Dad Poor Dad - of course.

What gave me great inside and inspiration was a book called "The Millionaire Real Estate Investor" by G. Keller.  

The book I recommend the MOST to anyone is "The unofficial Guide to Real Estate" by Spencer Strauss. This book was recommended in a Podcast and I bought it for 30 $ !!! since it is an older book that is not being printed anymore. IT IS MY BIBLE and it has ALL the INFO you need even though the latest 2nd edition is from 2003. It ALSO !!! describes the BRRRR method (of course not using this name for it). It is on my desk every day and I couldn't recommend it more to newbies and experienced investors as well. The methods, calculations, models and strategies are timeless and invaluable,

Patricia

Hello Costin, hello Matthew

thank you soooo much for your fantastic answer! I am truly speechless how much effort both of you put into it and can't thank you enough for your detailed points. I will definitly look into the book and I would be more then happy to get your notes, Costin. 

And what you wrote, Matthew: It sounds really right to me how you set up your structure! This would be also my strategy from what I have read so far on different websites. Also I was thinking about putting up a land trust that functions as an umbrella for the LLC's. Do you have one as well, Matthew?

I am a firm believer in keeping things simple so that I can fully understand what is going on with my assets. 

Since I am so new here I can only show my gratitude with a book recommendation. The book is a bit older but timeless: The unofficial guide to real estate investment, by Spencer Strauss. My hubby an I love it. Maybe it can be of some use to you.

Hello,

I am also a newbie from overseas. Reading all the posts I am getting more and more confused about how to set up my structure and who to go with. Honestly I don't trust posts from people who wrote a total of 3-5 posts on BP and praised anderson frantically without any other comments. That seems to be pure marketing. 

So I am wondering: Can anyone recommend a good book on asset protection (other then Clint Coons's book).?   I want to take things into my own hands and educate myself before I pay thousands of dollars to smart lawyers who use great marketing for themselfs...

And also : Can anyone recommend any other lawfirm then anderson just for comparison purposes?

Thank you in advance!

Hello Phil,
my husband and I live in AUSTRIA (he is an expat since 20 years). We would like to invest our money from afar in real estate and buy fixer uppers ESPECIALLY in Keller. So it is great to meet someone from Keller at the bigger pockets forum. We are looking for contractors to rehab a property in Keller! So I would like to know if you are the right person to work with - from an INVESTORS perspective? Best regards, Patricia