Houston, TX · Member since 2018 · 9 posts · 0 votes
Hello everyone,
I am looking for a real estate lawyer in Houston, TX, who can help with putting a correct structure for my rental properties. Does anyone have any recommendation or experience to share?
I searched some previous posts on this topic and the answers ranging from DIY, accountant, to using lawyers. The concern is how to set it up correctly at the beginning to have real protection and make it scalable. I am interested in hearing your experience about it.
Accountant · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 87 posts · 33 votes
7y
@Tao Xu Hello, I know if a great real estate attorney in Houston that I can put you in touch with. Here also does estate planning so he should be able to answer all of your questions. Please let me know if you'd like me to put you two in touch.
I am looking for a real estate lawyer in Houston, TX, who can help with putting a correct structure for my rental properties. Does anyone have any recommendation or experience to share?
I searched some previous posts on this topic and the answers ranging from DIY, accountant, to using lawyers. The concern is how to set it up correctly at the beginning to have real protection and make it scalable. I am interested in hearing your experience about it.
Thanks in advance for your help!
I've setup 1000 LLCs. No lawyer needed (I have a lot of units/buidlings and almost never use a laywer for anything). Actually, no LLC even needed for most people. But if you've been convinced that it's "the thing" to do, then just go online and do it...
2) Go to "Business Filings -> SISDirect - Online Searching and Filing. Login (via new account or previous. Either way you'll likely need to put in a CC# before proceeding)
3) Go to "Business Organizations', then under "Web Filings" choose "Domestic Limited Liability Company (LLC)" (or different, if applicable)
4) Filing type -> Certificate of Formation (should be the only one)5) Fill out your info.
The cost should be $300. Make sure forms they give you are saved as PDF to your machine
Houston, TX · Member since 2018 · 9 posts · 0 votes
7y
@Cody L.Thank you for the detailed instruction, Cody! I will definitely look into that. Need to understand if there's anything particular about Texas law and what the impact is. Much appreciate your help!
Accountant · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 87 posts · 33 votes
7y
@Tao Xu I will shoot you his information. I personally encourage real estate investors to work with the experts for their legal, accounting, contracting, etc. needs as these professionals invest years in the education and work in the field on a daily basis, which simply means that they get more exposure to the concepts and should therefore be able to foresee issues and provide an additional level of guidance that reading several online articles over a few week/months will not give the typical investor.
Futhermore, in that time that you would spend as an investor learning about these concepts, you could be focused on strategically growing your real estate business and learning real estate concepts.
Everyone has their own opinions on these things, and we are all smart enough to at least figure out the basics. The ultimate question is how much is you time worth?