I'm interested in talking to anyone that has hired Anderson Business Advisors for help with asset protection strategies.  This is the firm founded by author Clint Coons who wrote Asset Protection for Real Estate Investors.

I'd like to hear about your experiences, good or bad.  I am considering having them help with the creation of LLCs and land trusts for my buy-and-hold investment properties. They were not able to provide references due to client confidentiality.  

I have the same interest......................

Ken - I haven't hired those guys but I'd argue a couple things: 

1) Too many attorneys in the REI space $ell fear that you need this or that structure in order to protect your assets.

2) Too many investors get scared off by what appears to be something complex -- forming a holding company (whether LLC, LLP, C or S-corp). It's not that complex.

3) Too many investors are under-insured and fail to frequently review their insurance policies. 

Bottom line is this: 

1) Find a competent attorney that will give you the holding company structure of your choice (talk to your CPA, not your attorney about what is best for you) documents in a word format. It's all broiler plate anyway. You should be able to reuse your docs for each deal you do without having to go back to the attorney for a new op agreement etc. 

2) Forming a LLC etc is easy. Don't get scared by the legalese or the crazy attorneys trying to sell something. A LLC is just a bucket for carrying something around. In our case, it's a piece of property. At the same time, USE your holding companies. Make sure you shift an asset into it. I'm frequently shocked by the number of people who maintain rentals in their personal name. Don't forget to run separate books and bank accounts for your holding companies and have an annual meeting.

3) Review your insurance policies frequently. Make sure you have enough insurance personally (umbrella plus good underlying liability in relationship to your net worth) and corporately (same thing - umbrella plus underlying coverage). This is your first line of defense. Your Wyoming/Nevada/Delaware LLC won't do crap for you if a tenant slips and falls. It just hides the fact that you are the owner.

Anyway, final disclaimer: I'm not an attorney or a CPA. I don't pretend to be one even on the internet. This is my advice based on what's worked for me. Don't get scared off by some attorney. Get out there, write offers and do deals. 

Ken, what did you end up doing?

Originally posted by @Mike Dymski :

Ken, what did you end up doing?

Honestly, I haven't done anything yet. I continue to get conflicting advice about asset protection from friends and attorneys I have initial consultations with. I already have one LLC that owns a couple properties. I will likely transfer title of additional properties to this LLC.

@Ken Weiner I am also in the same boat. I will be talking to one of their attorneys next week.

Any feedback from someone who have worked with them will be appreciated....

thanks!

@Ken Weiner and @Kumar Paj ,

We had a short consultation with Anderson Business Advisor last week. I am still researching their legal plan (reviewing online comments, video, and BBB ratings); and, would also appreciate your feedback if you decide to hire them.

Keep us posted and I will do the same. Thanks.

From Nancy

@Ken Weiner @Nancy E. thanks for your note...

I also had short consultation with their advisor last week and not sure if the strategy he was recommending is the right one for me. Still waiting for his email describing in detailed options and pricing. I am meeting an another attorney tomorrow and see what he recommends..

will keep you posted...

I can imagine the cost of maintaining these structures is also a big (ongoing cost of legal fees, LLC entity renewal fees, etc).

Can someone who has done for this share some of the insight on this

What do you want to protect your assets from?  Big jury award in a personal injury type lawsuit, or spouse and/or children wresting control away from you when you get older, or one bad deal for one property bleeds over the makes the others vulnerable, or you find yourself unable to pay huge tax liability at some point and want to be judgment proof on paper so IRS cannot seize assets and has to do an offer in compromise with you?