Land Trust

How do you set up a land trust? What are the first steps to take?

Comments(13)

  • JohnMerchant17th December, 2004

    Somebody would draft the trust agreement, naming a trustee, grantor and beneficiary.

    That doc would then be executed (signed and notarized) then the trust would commence its life and begin, as per the conditions of the trust doc itself.

    If that trust is going to manage RE, then probably that RE would be deeded to the trust.

    But all this is just empty advice unless YOU are capable of drafting the trust because a knowledgeable lawyer is probably going to be required to do it for you...and HIS/HER advice is that which you should be heeding...not that of all the anonymous advice givers on this or any other board.

  • ybayou17th December, 2004

    I have been reading all of the posts on Land Trusts. I have several rental properties and just spoke to an tax strategist who told me that putting them in an LLC would cost me too much money and just to increase the liability amount to 1millon. But from here on out I should put all the other properties I purchase in LLCs

    Question
    1) Should I be considering Land Trust and what are the benefits if I do
    2) Other investors out there how are you structured and what is the best way to be structured to protect my self


    I appreciate any information you all are a awesome there is more information here than reading

  • ray_higdon17th December, 2004

    How would putting them in an LLC cost you a lot of money? Did he explain? For Florida, buy Mark Warda's asset protection book for FLorida and his book on land trusts, he is a sarasota lawyer who knows his stuff.
    [addsig]

  • niravmd17th December, 2004

    lou brown has an excellent course on land trusts.
    theres also a book i just ordered off of amazon. i think its
    'how to use land trusts for fun and profit'. i think the author is mark
    warda.
    author is an attorney based in FL.

  • oroper17th December, 2004

    There is a company that I have been doing some research with that will begin paying out to people who put there property in the trust. They would need to have at least 20% equity in them. When I get more info on them I will make another post.

  • ybayou18th December, 2004

    Thanks for all the info
    He said that it would cost a couple of thousand to put the properties I bought already in an LLC. He said the process of creating an LLC and then changing the names recording them under an LLC etc.. would cost that much. He did not go into more detail.

    I have since checked with a company called "The Company Corporation" and they do all the LLC work for around $385

    :-?

  • connections18th December, 2004

    Im not saying your guy is wrong but I would get a second opinion . I have an LLC and I dont see where it would cost that much unless things are very different in your state.>>> George

  • loon18th December, 2004

    Depending on your threshold of legal knowledge and comfort, you may be able to form the LLC yourself. I've formed two without lawyers, here they cost $135 with no further renewal fees. It's a simple one page form, available on the web (check your secy of state's website), and the generic and sufficient operating agreement is provided. If you have more than a single person LLC, you may need the legal advice though because then it's more complicated, shares of ownership, dissolution issues, etc.

    I'm no expert or attorney--though I am a good reader of statutes and legal matters, with an MA in Economics--but problems with LLCs seem more about how to use them correctly than in their formation. I haven't had any problems yet--ex. that insurance can be harder to get--but I've only had them for a few months. Few lawyers would advise you to do it yourself, because 1) it is their bread and butter and 2) they only see the problems possible in any transaction with a legal dimension. Few people go their lawyer and say "Hey, that LLC I formed myself?! It's working great, no problems!" Hundreds of transactions happen every day without lawyers or legal problems. That's no guarantee you'll never have any.

    And remember, my 'advice,' like all advice on the web, is worth exactly what you pay for it. You've got to figure out your own risk aversion levels, as weighed against convenience, budget, etc.

  • ray_higdon19th December, 2004

    connections, in Florida you can setup the LLC yourself for $150, plus the paperwork to transfer is called a warranty deed and cost about $10 per property to transfer. If someone quoted me $1,000 to do that, I would never, ever do business with that person
    [addsig]

  • gmyers20th January, 2005

    The way I understand it, once you have your LLC formed, you could just Quit Claim the properties to the LLC. Thereby the LLC is the owner. SHAZAM! Should just cost you filing fees.

    OR Quit Claim them to individual land trusts and make the LLC the beneficary of the trusts.

  • povrtsux20th January, 2005

    Hi, I have an S corporation. I also have few properties held in my name. Is an S different than a C, as for protection? What do I do next or what are my options? This stuff seems very confusing and complicated.
    Thanks

  • albanylarson1st February, 2005

    Question: What if your land trust trustee happens to get into some legal trouble or gets a judgement against them? Can that in any way affect or attach to your property in your land trust?

  • Colinl225th February, 2005

    I agree with you. I have no real convern for hiding properties from a possible lawsuit. I would however like to keep properties off my name from credit reports and lenders as to continue getting loans for future properties. As I hear, you can only get approved for property loans so many times before lenders start to see you as a high risk.

    Can a trust help with this?

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