New Member in Reno, NV

[Bill Schrimpf]

I've been interested in investment real estate, primarily in becoming a land lord, for 10+ years. I haven't done anything about it form an investment point of view but have bought and sold 2 primary residences. It's now time to do something, the clock is ticking, I want to retire from my 9-5 and have to pay from my kids college.

My goal is to have at least $100k/year free cash flow in 10 years or less, from real estate investment activities, primarily focused on buy and hold/landlord activities.

I've attended some conferences, read a few books and several of your helpful forum posts. I've learned a ton, THANK YOU!

Here are some questions I haven't seen the answer to on the forums. Perhaps someone can help!

1. Do I need an LLC (SP or other entity) or is good insurance enough? My net worth is very low. There is some high level discussion about this and the LLC crowd seems to say it's important for protection but I don't have much to protest, at least not yet! How I proceed with #3 below may impact the LLC question too!

2. How do you get profits out of an LLC? I will reinvest most of the profits back into the business but If I want to pay myself, $100/month for a kids college fund, how do I do that?

3. My long term goal is to build a portfolio of properties that generates free cash flow. I have some some starter cash. Whats the best way to utilize my cash, use it as a down payment (20%) on 2-3 inexpensive properties and finance the rest or just purchase a single property outright?

4. What is a good resource to find the average rents for a given area. I've found homepath.com but there has to be others...

Thanks in advance and I look forward to hearing from you!

[Will Barnard]

Welcome to BP Nation.

1. It all depends on your equity exposure and assets. Good insurance is just one layer of protection. Look at it this way, would you rather have one bullet proof vest or a bullet proof vest and vehicle armor while entering a gun battle? Two layers is better, however, there are exceptions on individual circumstances.

2. Through a K1. In an LLC, profits flow through the entity to you via the K1.

3. Using leverage would be the better idea, though use it wisely.

4. Rentometer is another and you can also pull rental comps from a RE agent. Property management companies will also have data on this.