All Forum Posts by: Ann Bellamy

Sounds like a solid start, good luck to you.

Unless you are buying properties for less than 10K, 2K is the same as no money.

Interesting business model. I'd like to find someone doing the same thing in the Northeast.

It depends on whether you are going to market your LLC or not. If it is simply a holding LLC, such as for a single-property LLC, I am more concerned that the name is not taken when I form the LLC, so I name them by address: 5 Main St, Anytown, NH becomes 5MA, LLC.

If you are going to market, choose something memorable. Black could become Blackjack, Black and White, etc. If you plan to buy commercial properties requiring commercial financing or a Private Placement, don't choose something silly, sounds unprofessional.

Well, I'm sure enough that I have commercial policies and work with commercial lenders regularly.

I'm not saying that a commercial lender will lend on one duplex: typically it is a blanket loan for serveral properties. But sometimes if you speak with local banks or credit unions with commercial lending departments, and develop a relationship, they will provide commercial loans on smaller properties.

As for insurance, if you can't find an insurance agent with a commercial lines rep in your area - (they are everywhere) try nreinsurance.com - they specialize in insurance for real estate investors, and can handle both residential and commercial policies. (Note to moderator, not an affiliate link)

Welcome, James. Biggerpockets is my favorite networking site. Good luck as you start your new ventures.

Holding in an LLC requires a new perspective and mindset. You need a commercial insurance policy, commercial loan departments, not residential. All of these things are easy to acquire if you stop talking to the people doing residential insurance and mortgages, and start asking for the commercial insurance rep, or the commercial lending department. Yes, it is all more expensive.

There are more considerations than just liability protection when considering LLC's or not - you should speak to both your attorney, and your tax preparer (Not H&R Block).

I still have one property in my own name that I acquired before I started buying in LLC's. I haven't switched it over because of the cost of transfer tax in NH. 1.5 percent, and I'd have to pay the entire amount with no exemptions for the LLC being owned by the same person. I have bumped up my umbrella policy to compensate.

Michael, you were most likely speaking with someone dealing with residential lending. Banks won't lend on properties held in LLC's for a residential property. That would be a commercial loan, so you would need to speak to a completely different department. However, having said that, I've never heard of a commercial lender that does that small of a loan.

You might try the personal loan websites: prosper.com, lendingclub.com or wikiloans.com

Kudos to you for pulling it off.

For buy and hold I like "Real Estate Investments and How to Make Them" By Milt Tanzer. You really understand the numbers and the four ways you make money in buy and hold properties.