I've consulted with attorneys / CPA's here and for me personally, using a good umbrella policy and no LLC's has been sufficient. 

Should I increase insurance and add an umbrella?

Umbrella insurance to cover above and beyond6.)

Hey Ray,Good move looking into umbrella coverage — most investors skip it until something bad happens.

Currently I just have good landlord / umbrella coverage on all the properties and don’t leverage any LLCs.

For the basics of apartment insurance and umbrella total is about 5200, despite a high deductible. 

.• Many investors hold CA rentals in their personal name (with strong insurance/umbrella coverage) to avoid these fees, unless liability exposure is a big concern.• From a tax perspective, LLCs in CA are pass-through, so the income and depreciation still flow to your personal return.Texas rentals:• Texas doesn’t have a state income tax, which makes holding STRs here more straightforward.• An LLC in TX can give you liability protection without the heavy franchise taxes CA charges (the TX franchise tax only kicks in above ~$2.47M revenue in 2025).• If your STRs qualify under the STR material participation rules, you could use bonus depreciation to offset W-2 income—LLC ownership doesn’t take that away since income still flows through.Cross-state strategy:• You don’t necessarily need one LLC per property—many investors group properties (by state or risk profile).• You could form a Texas holding LLC and register it as “foreign” in CA if you want uniformity, but this means you’ll still pay CA’s $800 tax per year.• A common approach: keep CA rentals in your own name with strong insurance, put TX STRs in a TX LLC, and avoid mixing states in one entity.Tax angle:• Whether you hold rentals in an LLC or personally, depreciation, expenses, and Section 179/bonus depreciation still flow through to your return.• The entity affects liability more than taxes—unless you elect S-Corp treatment for active businesses (not usually recommended for rentals).This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

Umbrella is hard to get regardless in FL.

In addition to a commercial insurance policy, I recommend buying an umbrella policy to your personal coverages.

Practical checklist: get an umbrella policy, keep completely separate books and a dedicated bank account, and use a simple software like QuickBooks so your income and expenses are clean.