Incorporating Yourself for Real Estate Investing
There seems to be lots of confusion and puzzlement about how to incorporate, and the "great cost" of doing so....and there's just no reason for either.
Anybody can get, at many office supply companies, online, or at such as Office Depot or Staples, etc., etc., many kinds of legal forms and kits, including a comlete kit, containing forms, instructions, etc...on how to INC. yourself, by yourself, in any state you might choose.
No lawyer is required, no big cost, besides kit and the filing/registration fee required by the State's Sec of State office in the selected state...and these filing fees vary all over the map.
But you should understand that corporate law & know-how is a huge legal playing field, and merely getting a new corp or LLC chartered is only the beginning...so plan to do a lot of study in order to keep up with and learn about the care & feeding of your new corp.
Lots of well done books by experts in corp. forming and operation and management, from NOLO Press, many others, and anybody wanting to know how to operate a corp safely and well, should absolutely read and study as many as possible so as to maximize his/her corp. benefits, stay out of trouble, etc.
I've been forming and operating my own corps and LLCs for a long time and I am constantly referring to one of my books as new questions arise.
One word of caution: It's so easy to inc. yourself, that many new inc'ers take their new corps home and "shelve" them, and don't finish the job.
They don't do those things that a careful and experienced inc'er does, such as issuing the necessary stock certificeates, issuing corp. resolutions, opening corp checking account, etc...all things that need to to be done promptly.
Then, when they do get sued, they can't seriously claim that their corp. is real and may find their new corp to be NO shelter...many court decisions saying that the corp in question was NOT really anything but a sham, was never operated as a corp, its funds were comingled with personal funds, no minutes were kept, no corp resolutions were issued...all things that go to prove that a corp is real or just a "veil",
You know yourself and your own habits...so if you're NOT going to tend to your corp "garden' carefully, and let it get weedy, overgrown or unfinished, DON'T do it,
HIre a lawyer or accountant who knows the field to do it for you. The money you pay him/her will pay off and keep your corp "shield" in place.
LLCs require fewer corporate formalities than S Corps. Those who fear sloppiness will lead to their corporate veil being pierced would do well to consider the LLC.
Regardless of that, the key things to avoiding a court disregarding your corporate veil are having actual assets in the corporation and/or adequately insuring it against risks. In other words, if you have a rental home, the title should be in the name of the LLC or corporation, and there should be liability insurance in case someone slips and falls, etc.