However I was surprised that it seems easy to refinance a property registered under an individual's name but none of the banks I talked to wanted to refinance a paid off income generating property registered under a LLC.Any pointers from anybody who had refinanced properties under their company name?

Have you considered selling shares of the LLC to individual investors rather than the conventional financing route?

For me the choice of getting an LLC was for 2 reasons...1) you do not have to fill out a Form 593-E, Real Estate Withholding – Computation of Estimated Gain or Lossat closing time.

I still find it fascinating, whether it's real estate on another venture, it often comes down to the individual you are dealing with and whether they want to put forth the effor or not.

I have absolutely no issue with hard money lenders, but they are rarely the best choice for me or others I know with good amounts of experience.Of course, that's just my experience...others' may vary...

Chances are you will - have a deficiency judgement, - if there is a second mortgage you will owe that money, - the IRS views the debt as forgiven income (see a CPA), http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/The-Mortgage-Forgiveness-Debt-Relief-Act-and-Debt-Cancellation-- your credit FICO score will drop as much as a foreclosure,and - your borrow-ability with any government agency like FHA will be harmed for a long time.So what is left?

.: In the short time "lurking" and then joining BP, I've already learned quite a bit and had a chance to meet some great individuals.

There are basically 2 choices: owner / 3rd party financing.

@CL Tumlin ,Depreciation as @Dave T said will be prorated for the number of days in the year.Unless you initially segregated out the costs upon purchase between the individual components of the home you will continue to depreciate it over 27.5 years.

The value of this loss of property is subjective and can result in widely differing figures depending on the individual properties.