How did you incorporate? C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC??

[Monica Burt]

I am looking to incorporate myself for a variety of reasons before fully engaging in my RE journey. I am curious what option you took for incorporation and why you chose that option. I have an MBA so I know a decent amount about the benefits and disadvantages of each option but I want to know what others in the RE world chose to do. I am just now trying to figure things out but potentially I would like to flip some homes and I would like to broaden my RE portfolio to hold some properties long term and live off (or save or use the cash to continue investing it all depends on my 9-5 situation) of the cash flow so that I can hopefully retire early.

I am assuming that the S-Corp route is the way to go but I am not certain. There are also a variety of ways to get this done online but I am a little nervous about handling something so important via a website. Did you use a website or an attorney and/or an accountant to assist you with your incorporation? I live in TN...just in case you are curious.

Thanks in advance for the advice!

[Brian Burke]

I agree with the above that it depends on your situation, but add that in the beginning the best entity might be no entity at all. I did everything in my own name when I started. Then again, I didn't have much to lose. Good liability insurance is usually sufficient. Once you are really rolling, you'll have your business and strategy better defined and your entity decisions will be more clear.

20+ years and hundreds of deals later I have several entities, of all types, each for a different reason. When I was starting, I didn't need all of the complexity and added expense.