LLC vs. Liability Insurance for a rental + managing investment

LLC vs. Liability Insurance for a rental + managing investment

Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 0 votes

Hey All - I am officially brand new to being a landlord. As of this past weekend, I had my first tenant move in. Being my first rental, I've utilized a local PM company that has pretty reasonable rates, and they got me a great rental rate.

My questions are around the best way to go about 1) protecting myself and my personal assets from any liabilities if something were to happen, and 2) the best way to go about managing the property (payments, profits, repair fund, etc.)

  1. 1) I've seen lots of contradicting posts of people stating that you should absolutely set up an LLC, and others that said having Liability Insurance is a better route (I now have a landloard insurance policy through LM. Same thing as "liability insurance"???) Which one is the best route?
  2. 2) As far as managing the investment, should I set up a second checking account through my bank so that my deposits from the PM go straight into there? If so, should I transfer my repair fund to said new account? Since the mortgage is coming out of my primary checking, is it best to transfer my mortgage amount from the new checking account to one that is drafted for the mortgage, then leave the profits from the rental in the new account moving forward?

Thanks in advance for any help, and excuse my lack of knowledge here. I am brand new to this and hoping to do this the right way from the start.

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  • Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    Unless you have significant other assets to protect at this point, @Travis Silva, an LLC is unnecessary. It will just be more time, effort, and expense than is required right now. Look into an umbrella policy that will give you additional protection, should you run into trouble. I certainly think you should have an account dedicated to your investment property. It will make it much easier to track your income and expenses, especially come tax time.

    Congrats on your first investment!

  • Rental Property Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2018 · 48 posts · 24 votes
    6y

    @Travis Silva - Congrats on your first rental property. I do agree with Jaysen Medhurst. Having just one rental property does not warrant having an LLC. With the Landlord Insurance Policy and an umbrella policy that would be sufficient protection. I would certainly recommend a seperate bank account for any charges and income for teh rental making it easier to track, especially come tax time, thus preventing comingling of funds. Much success...

  • Member since 2019 · 7 posts · 0 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Jaysen Medhurst:

    Unless you have significant other assets to protect at this point, @Travis Silva, an LLC is unnecessary. It will just be more time, effort, and expense than is required right now. Look into an umbrella policy that will give you additional protection, should you run into trouble. I certainly think you should have an account dedicated to your investment property. It will make it much easier to track your income and expenses, especially come tax time.

    Congrats on your first investment!

    Thanks Jaysen and Anthony for the feedback! I've contacted my insurance company, and have ensured that I do in fact have both a Landlord Policy, as well as an Umbrella Policy.

    I think the last question I have is around the second account. So I set that up today, and we are full steam ahead. 

    Should I transfer my mortgage auto-draft from my primary checking to my new one, so that everything is in one account? The other option would be to leave my mortgage where it is, and then manually transfer the amount of the mortgage every month, while leaving the profit in the new account.

    Thoughts???

  • Rental Property Investor · Greenwich, CT · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6y

    Automate everything you can, @Travis Silva.

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