RE Investing: LLC, C, or Self

[greekfire]

I concur with the previous posts and don’t have much else to add but this. A C-corp experiences double taxation and a sole proprietorship has little or no personal liability protection. When forming my own business, it came down to an S-corp or an LLC. I chose an LLC because it entailed less maintenance and provided me with personal liability protection.

I incorporated my LLC through the state of Nevada using LegalZoom. To me, Nevada seemed like one of the more business-friendly states and they said it was much more difficult to pierce the corporate veil. California apparently has a hard-on for sticking it to corporations, small or large.

I second Shadowfax’s recommendation to have a separate LLC for each property. 3245 Plaza Ct LLC, 12678 Bluff Canyon LLC, etc. I recall a foreclosure guru that this site has highlighted a while back recommending the same thing.

If you incorporate in Nevada you will have to pay an annual resident agent fee (~$150) for service of process unless you or someone you know lives there. You will also have to pay (if I recall) a $100-$125 per year to update your annual list of officer(s). Then there’s the $800 annual fee to the state of California.

There will also be a lot of record keeping if you plan on expanding on this model. You might want to consider setting up a separate bank account for each, unless they are to fall under an umbrella corporation. But I am sure this would entail a whole other set of circumstances.

[Shadowfax]

While I understand the business-centric approach of Nevada and there are fewer taxes/fees in Nevada, the downside of the Nevada LLC is that you still have to pay the $800 to CA if the property is here–so why pay twice? You don’t get out of the CA legal system since CA will have jurisdiction over any claims with regard to the CA-located property. They may look at NV law re the entity itself, but most likely all the other matters will be governed by CA law anyway.

And if you take the “serial LLC” route, you should definitely not comingle the funds from each property–set up separate bank accounts and books for each LLC/property.

[Shadowfax]

While I understand the business-centric approach of Nevada and there are fewer taxes/fees in Nevada, the downside of the Nevada LLC is that you still have to pay the $800 to CA if the property is here–so why pay twice? You don’t get out of the CA legal system since CA will have jurisdiction over any claims with regard to the CA-located property. They may look at NV law re the entity itself, but most likely all the other matters will be governed by CA law anyway.

And if you take the “serial LLC” route, you should definitely not comingle the funds from each property–set up separate bank accounts and books for each LLC/property.

[Shadowfax]

While I understand the business-centric approach of Nevada and there are fewer taxes/fees in Nevada, the downside of the Nevada LLC is that you still have to pay the $800 to CA if the property is here–so why pay twice? You don’t get out of the CA legal system since CA will have jurisdiction over any claims with regard to the CA-located property. They may look at NV law re the entity itself, but most likely all the other matters will be governed by CA law anyway.

And if you take the “serial LLC” route, you should definitely not comingle the funds from each property–set up separate bank accounts and books for each LLC/property.

[Shadowfax]

While I understand the business-centric approach of Nevada and there are fewer taxes/fees in Nevada, the downside of the Nevada LLC is that you still have to pay the $800 to CA if the property is here–so why pay twice? You don’t get out of the CA legal system since CA will have jurisdiction over any claims with regard to the CA-located property. They may look at NV law re the entity itself, but most likely all the other matters will be governed by CA law anyway.

And if you take the “serial LLC” route, you should definitely not comingle the funds from each property–set up separate bank accounts and books for each LLC/property.

[Shadowfax]

While I understand the business-centric approach of Nevada and there are fewer taxes/fees in Nevada, the downside of the Nevada LLC is that you still have to pay the $800 to CA if the property is here–so why pay twice? You don’t get out of the CA legal system since CA will have jurisdiction over any claims with regard to the CA-located property. They may look at NV law re the entity itself, but most likely all the other matters will be governed by CA law anyway.

And if you take the “serial LLC” route, you should definitely not comingle the funds from each property–set up separate bank accounts and books for each LLC/property.

[greekfire]

Yeah, I met with an accountant a couple years ago and he sort of asked the same thing. Why Nevada? I guess you could say that I could have done some more homework on all of the variations as to why (or why not) to incorporate there. My business is not real estate-based, so I didn’t consider the whole property location issue.

With that said, it has served me well so far. I remember when I was researching it that Nevada and Delaware were the two most business-friendly states in the Union. I took this to mean that when push came to shove, my corporation had at least a fair shot in a trial. Did I have hard evidence to substantiate this at the time? No. However, I do know first-hand that California, or at least certain elements of California state government, favor a person over a corporation.

This might come up if there ever is a lawsuit from a tenant against a property owner (or vice-versa) for whatever reason (mold, accidents on property, negligence, etc.). There are many factors to consider and I am not an expert. But there’s something to be said for doing your best research and just going for it. Just my $0.02.

[greekfire]

Yeah, I met with an accountant a couple years ago and he sort of asked the same thing. Why Nevada? I guess you could say that I could have done some more homework on all of the variations as to why (or why not) to incorporate there. My business is not real estate-based, so I didn’t consider the whole property location issue.

With that said, it has served me well so far. I remember when I was researching it that Nevada and Delaware were the two most business-friendly states in the Union. I took this to mean that when push came to shove, my corporation had at least a fair shot in a trial. Did I have hard evidence to substantiate this at the time? No. However, I do know first-hand that California, or at least certain elements of California state government, favor a person over a corporation.

This might come up if there ever is a lawsuit from a tenant against a property owner (or vice-versa) for whatever reason (mold, accidents on property, negligence, etc.). There are many factors to consider and I am not an expert. But there’s something to be said for doing your best research and just going for it. Just my $0.02.

[greekfire]

Yeah, I met with an accountant a couple years ago and he sort of asked the same thing. Why Nevada? I guess you could say that I could have done some more homework on all of the variations as to why (or why not) to incorporate there. My business is not real estate-based, so I didn’t consider the whole property location issue.

With that said, it has served me well so far. I remember when I was researching it that Nevada and Delaware were the two most business-friendly states in the Union. I took this to mean that when push came to shove, my corporation had at least a fair shot in a trial. Did I have hard evidence to substantiate this at the time? No. However, I do know first-hand that California, or at least certain elements of California state government, favor a person over a corporation.

This might come up if there ever is a lawsuit from a tenant against a property owner (or vice-versa) for whatever reason (mold, accidents on property, negligence, etc.). There are many factors to consider and I am not an expert. But there’s something to be said for doing your best research and just going for it. Just my $0.02.

[greekfire]

Yeah, I met with an accountant a couple years ago and he sort of asked the same thing. Why Nevada? I guess you could say that I could have done some more homework on all of the variations as to why (or why not) to incorporate there. My business is not real estate-based, so I didn’t consider the whole property location issue.

With that said, it has served me well so far. I remember when I was researching it that Nevada and Delaware were the two most business-friendly states in the Union. I took this to mean that when push came to shove, my corporation had at least a fair shot in a trial. Did I have hard evidence to substantiate this at the time? No. However, I do know first-hand that California, or at least certain elements of California state government, favor a person over a corporation.

This might come up if there ever is a lawsuit from a tenant against a property owner (or vice-versa) for whatever reason (mold, accidents on property, negligence, etc.). There are many factors to consider and I am not an expert. But there’s something to be said for doing your best research and just going for it. Just my $0.02.

[greekfire]

Yeah, I met with an accountant a couple years ago and he sort of asked the same thing. Why Nevada? I guess you could say that I could have done some more homework on all of the variations as to why (or why not) to incorporate there. My business is not real estate-based, so I didn’t consider the whole property location issue.

With that said, it has served me well so far. I remember when I was researching it that Nevada and Delaware were the two most business-friendly states in the Union. I took this to mean that when push came to shove, my corporation had at least a fair shot in a trial. Did I have hard evidence to substantiate this at the time? No. However, I do know first-hand that California, or at least certain elements of California state government, favor a person over a corporation.

This might come up if there ever is a lawsuit from a tenant against a property owner (or vice-versa) for whatever reason (mold, accidents on property, negligence, etc.). There are many factors to consider and I am not an expert. But there’s something to be said for doing your best research and just going for it. Just my $0.02.

[Shadowfax]

Delaware is da bomb.

But Nevada is building a good following. They don’t have much case law of their own–so when they interpret their own statutes, they have to borrow from other states and frequently borrow from their good neighbor CA. But they are getting some traction with the business community for being very pro-business, which is good. Best to you.

[Shadowfax]

Delaware is da bomb.

But Nevada is building a good following. They don’t have much case law of their own–so when they interpret their own statutes, they have to borrow from other states and frequently borrow from their good neighbor CA. But they are getting some traction with the business community for being very pro-business, which is good. Best to you.

[Shadowfax]

Delaware is da bomb.

But Nevada is building a good following. They don’t have much case law of their own–so when they interpret their own statutes, they have to borrow from other states and frequently borrow from their good neighbor CA. But they are getting some traction with the business community for being very pro-business, which is good. Best to you.

[Shadowfax]

Delaware is da bomb.

But Nevada is building a good following. They don’t have much case law of their own–so when they interpret their own statutes, they have to borrow from other states and frequently borrow from their good neighbor CA. But they are getting some traction with the business community for being very pro-business, which is good. Best to you.

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