It's All In The Name.......
OK- I am very close to forming an LLC to hold properties in my future real estate dealings.
From a marketing standpoint, what type of name should I use??
More specifically- should you end your name with "Properties" or "Investments" or something else??
Also, I have heard from one of the resources I am reading that you should never put your name in the business name because you want to give the people you are dealing with the impression that you are just working for XYZ Corporation, not the actual owner.. so they don't hunt you down and cut you into pieces...
Any thoughts on that?
Your not selling perfume, jeans, cars, etc... the name doesn't matter, use common sense, what matters in REI is money and you, nothing else matters. It all comes down to how you come across to others and how much money you are going to make and how much money the other person is going to get.
I wouldn't say the name is not important, maybe just not as important as to some other businesses.
A little thought in the name might help. A name like Stinky Pete's Properties, Inc might hinder your business a bit. Of course, you can have a catchy slogan: "Smell for yourself, our unique fragrance of home"
I wouldn't include my name in the business name simply because that defeats part of the purpose of creating an entity in the first place.
As far as the just working for xyz corp, look at it thru your eyes. Would you rather talk to someone on a personal level or someone "just doing their job"? Personally, I'd prefer the small time investor to the "large corporation." It's all in perception.
Why I think the business name isn't that important is because it should really only come up at the closing table, when documents are signed. At that point, the sellers (or buyers) should be happy with the deal, even if it was thru Stinky Pete.
Also, if your business grows to the point where name recognition could be beneficial and you happen not to really like the name you have, the entity can file a DBA license with the county just like an individual can.
Roger
Hey,
Excluding "Stinky Pete's" (which I am still laughing about), the name is really, really low on the list.
If you think about lots of the "famous" companies names out there, they don't really mean anything (at least to me). For example, I am using a Compaq computer running Microsoft sotware right now. What does "Compaq" mean? It sounds like "Compact" which is funny. What idiot came up with "Microsoft"? Micro=Small and add that to "soft" and all you get are jokes about Bill Gates abilites in bed.
I once started a company with two friends. We called it TRG, Inc. TRG stood for "Three Rich Guys".
Hello, and good question.
We created our LLC like this: Ourlastname Properties, LLC
Roanoke, VA 540-xxx-xxxx.
We're about to put lettering on our truck to:
Ourlastname Properties, LLC
Roanoke, VA
540-xxx-xxxx
We Buy Realestate -Any Condition.
Thanks,
OnTheWater
I have a dba as One Source Real Estate Services.
I have two sets of business cards. One says "We Buy Houses" with my general info on them and the other has the title
"One Source Real Estate Services"
and the subtitle is "Real Estate Buying/Selling and Foreclosure Workout Negotiation.
That is basically my marketing company name. Depending on who I'm dealing with is what type of card I use. So it's up to you on what you want to do. Sellers just want to know if you can buy their house or not. So when you approach them on the personal level, they feel comfortable with dealing with the little guy (instead of the big investment company thats going to try and rip them off)
I have another separate Corporation as a holding company to where my tenents make payments to and that company has the name "Property Management" in the title. I know it may not be necessary to have all of the different structures, but for me it's for asset protection and business separation/structure. I can advertise for multiple real estate profit centers under the "one source" name.
Go for whatever works for you!![ Edited by rcummings on Date 01/22/2004 ]
As far as names go for any Real Estate Investors, The finance/banking system does not recognize real estate investing a source of income. It has one of the lowest scores of any job on the scales of financing. So I personally would not want properties in my business name, but that is just me. Also Real Estate Investing is considered just that an "INVESTMENT" not a source of income in the eyes of finance. If you don't like this message PLEASE don't take it out on me.
Lori
[addsig]