All Forum Posts by: Patrick Snoke

Thanks. I considered registering the LLC in WY of NV, but opted to stay "in state" in NJ. The added anonymoty of members is nice, but there wasn't any tax benefit because we are registered as an LLC and it's a pass through, Maybe I'll reconsider, but at the very least, use a PO box.

I'm not as concerned about incoming calls as I am about out going showing up on caller ID.  I believe I can use call block to prevent my phone number from coming up as well if need be.  If needed, I'll get a second line tied to the cell.  

To a certain extent, I may be majoring on the minors, but who knows, there are a lot of nuts out there.  Thanks everyone.

How important is separation or anonymity between my business and personal when I'm using my home as the registered place of business for my LLC, and using a work cell phone for investing. It was never an issue in the past when I had rentals. I'm new to note investing and I'm not sure I'm comfortable when negotiating note sellers but more importantly, with non-paying borrowers, having my home address as my registered LLC or on business correspondence, and my work cell phone coming up as my employers name on a land line caller ID.

Should I set up a P.O. Box established for my business instead of using my home address? Does it really matter when LLC registration info is public record in my state?

I use my employer cell phone for everything (work, investing, personal), as I ported my number in from my old business when I started and is the understanding with my employer.  The problem is my cell phone comes up as my (day job) company's name on land line caller IDs.  On cell phones, it comes up as my cell number.  I've considered a second phone line on my work cell or a virtual line through Grasshopper (which doesn't help the caller ID issue), but haven't found a good solution.  Anyone who looks up my name on LinkedIn would know that I have a day job our side of investing, so it's not like's it a huge secret. 

I intend to set up a separate email address and website for my investing business separate from my personal and work email for the sake of separation and for professional appearance.  Should I follow suit with my business address and phone line as well?  

I just bought the PPR program on Black Friday for $200 off. It think the deal has expired, timing is everything. I've been through the reading portion, there are documents and audio files that I have to finish. The content is really good.  

Thank you everyone for all the feedback. Coincidentally, the day after I posted this, Dave Van Horn from PPR sent out an e-zine article discussing asset protection in RE considering LLCs, trusts, etc, and while catching up on NoteMBA podcasts on the same day, they discussed investing in notes in an LLC vs DBA. They stressed investing as an LLC for several reasons.

I have assets and earned income to protect so asset protection is important and worth the expense.  I may have confused things by asking too many questions in one post.  

@Mark Nolan, can I have a Solo 401k own shares of my company if it is a C corp like a ROBs?  I looked at this option a while ago, but there was a hitch that I can't remember at this point.  I think it is because it precludes me from investing in my company if my 401k does as well due to self dealing, but I'll have to go back and look into it again.  Do I have to be a qualified employee being paid at least 20 hrs per week to qualify for a Solo 401k.  That is one of the parts of the ROBs that I'm not fond of.  

At this point, I'm most likely going to move forward with an LLC. I may not be able to use a single account for my note and securities and the C Corp/ROBs isn't appropriate at this point yet due to size/complexity.

I am undecided on the best legal structure to invest in notes as a side business. I have 3 options and each has their own things to consider. I have personal investment fund and an IRA of equal value

1. Sole proprietor/DBA- Easy setup, pass through to my personal taxes, can use the cash management account in my brokerage account to warehouse/invest between opportunities. Downside is liability and I would need to do a separate self directed IRA to tap additional funds that can't be coming led with personal.

2. LLC- Easy setup, no double taxation/personal tax pass through, increased liability protection. Downside is another tax return to have completed (minor) and I still can't use IRA funds with personal. Can't have single brokerage/cash management account for stocks/note investing funds.

3. C Corp & use a ROBS (roll over business startup)- Expensive setup and yearly costs but unlocks my IRA funds to create one large pool of capital. Double taxation issue as well. ROBS need to be an operating business rather than an asset holding company. I feel like this would be a great option if I were to quit my job to invest, but that isn't likely.

It almost seems like the LLC is the obvious answer, but I would really like to find a way to have one large pool of capital for stocks and note investing in a single checking/trading account. Maybe I can't have it all.

Do most note investors use an LLC or in their own name/DBA?

If I were to add rental properties to the mix, does that change things?

What is the best solution?