What is the process to transfer real estate you already own into a newly formed LLC?
I already own several investment properties. However I purchased them in my own name for various financing reasons as the time. Now I would like to move them into LLC's, most likely one for each property. What is the best way to structures the transactions, to protect privacy and to keep the costs low?
3 Answers
The biggest issue you will likely face if these are not free-and-clear is that an entity is unlikely to get financing on terms nearly as good as an individual.
If you just transfer the title and don't change the note then you could trigger the "due on sale" clause and the mortgagor will expect payment in full.
A possible way around this is to form a trust, then transfer the title to the trust. Typically banks tend to consider trusts a little differently since they are used many times by individuals, but you will certainly run into issues with holding the title in an LLC and the mortgage for the property in your own name.
Of course, if you own the property without a lien you have none of the above issues.
I transferred property into a LLC for the same reason in Illinois. It cost $100 for the attorney to complete a transfer of title form which was easily filed with the state. The only risk was that the mortgage holder could call the note due to the transfer. However, I believe the risk was small since there were no payment issues with the mortgage and I believe is unlikely that a mortgage bank would call a loan that they are not having any issues with.
Hope this helps.
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Helps a lot, Thanks. After reading my mortgage doco, it is clear that the bank CAN exercise the due on sale clause. I also sent the banker who is servicing my loan an email and asked how often they have called a loan due on sale simply because the owners transferred it into an LLC they owned, his reply after asking the head of residential mortgages, was "never". – Opensourcechris 13 years ago
You would have to have a sales agreement for each transaction you put into each LLC.
I would consult a tax attorney to figure out how the taxes would work. Since you are, effectively, selling them to the LLC, there could be tax implications.
Other than the taxes, it's pretty straightforward. You have the LLC make an offer for the property, you accept it, a transaction occurs and the LLC owns it.
Again, I'm not sure about the tax implications, so please consult a tax guy for that.
