All Forum Posts by: Samuel R. Harden

That is very high for a single member LLC. The filing fee in your state is only $50. You should be able to file those on your own. At some point in the future you will want an attorney to draft your LLC an Operating Agreement, but it is not mandatory in Arizona. Just make sure you meet the Arizona publication requirement (publish your Articles in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where you do business, for three consecutive publications within 60 days of approval).

@Jerry Poon,

The Biennial Report is due in Indiana two years after you file a for-profit business entity, and every two years after that.

Confirm this with your California accountant, but my understanding is that California FTB Form 568 should be filed with your personal taxes, and that will include your LLC Fee and LLC Tax.

Hi @Jerry Poon,

Your LLC in Indiana has to file a Biennial Report, which looks like it costs $22.44 for an online filing.

Unfortunately, California is almost certainly going to ding you with LLC fees and taxes, even though the property and LLC are in another state. The California expense is an $800/yr LLC fee, as well as a small LLC tax.

The best general advice I can give is to look at the 1) class of property 2) type of property, and 3) LLC expenses in your state when determining whether you are going to set up separate LLCs.

1) Class: If you have a top of the market house in an A neighborhood, I would keep that separate from properties in C or D neighborhoods. No reason to leave your best properties open to liability that can be created at your worst properties.

2) Type: There is also a difference between an individual LLC for each SFH, and an individual LLC for each apartment complex.

3) Expense: For example, here in Ohio, an LLC costs $99 plus our fee to set up, and Ohio does not have annual fees on LLCs, so while it is not necessary to create an individual LLC for each property, it isn't a huge expense either. The other side of that coin is California, which will charge you $800/yr plus an LLC tax for each individual LLC (including each LLC in a Series LLC).

Hi Robyn,

No personal relationship there, pm me for the contact list for LMHA here in Toledo.

Logan - Yes, unfortunately you live in Cali, and they're going to hit you with fees and LLC taxes regardless of where the property/LLC is located.

Christy - Nic is right that litigating this would be more expensive than it is worth, and bankruptcy sounds wrong for you. They're not cheap either, especially from the sounds of your finances, and the money you would save over simply taking the loss may not be enough to justify the hit to your credit if you plan on financing anything in the near future. 

When you say "if the bank is willing to accept the most recent offer," are you currently working on a short sale with them? Nic sounds like he can best lay out your bank based options. 

Hi @Chelsea Huebner!

There is also a free video course under the education tab that you might find helpful, with about four hours of information broken into a lot of small videos.

Good luck investing!

Hi Jerome,

Here is the IRS publication on rental properties (for 2014, do not believe there is an updated version released at this time). It's not as easy to read as most books, but it is only 21 pages, so worth reading over a few times. It also just covers the basics, but it is a great starting point.

Enjoy,

Sam

Any update On that webinar Nick?

Not trying to pile on, just a professional heads up, but LLC stands for limited liability company, so there is no need to add another "co" after you list Walker Enterprizes, LLC.