Putting contract under your name or under business name?

[Matthew J. T.]

Does it make a difference if I put my name as the buyer in a purchase and sale agreement, or is it better to use your business's name when putting something under contract? I don't know if it matters, but I thought I would ask.

[Account Closed]

Signing your personal name means you are personally liable if for some reason you breach the contract outside of any contingencies you wrote on the contract. For example, if you told the seller that you were going to buy it for personal residence but you bring multiple prospective end buyers during the inspection period. Or you market the property and try to assign the contract without letting the seller know what you had planned to do.

Using an LLC gives some protections but not all. You should work with a real estate agent or attorney to make your offers if you are not experienced in this. They will at least help you write in ways that could prevent you from losing your deposits and prevent some other liabilities.

For taxes, you should consider talking to a CPA who is familiar with real estate.