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This, on it's face, seems like the proper way to deal with it, but what about 40 somethings that have actually struggled to buy and renovate multiple properties

This, on it's face, seems like the proper way to deal with it, but what about 40 somethings that have actually struggled to buy and renovate multiple properties because "passive income, or whatever" - in order to shield themselves eventually someone is going to recommend an LLC or incorp, and handing the responsibilities of the day to day off to another, third party entity for management. Where do you draw the line? I think landlords are an archaic remnant of the past that refuses to let go. I haven't self-resolved my thoughts on whether or not it's ethical to have property you don't, yourself use. In my opinion, it's complex, ethically. Ideally we wouldn't need landlords or apartments or anything (hey 37% of the workforce in the US could "easily" work remotely! what about th) - but since they exist, I'm in agreement. "holding land" should be frowned upon.

zelon88 5y ago
If the case is as you describe then get the assets back in an individual person's name and just hire a management company. The only reason you would want to hide behind an LLC is so you can avoid liability as a landlord. That is the source of so many horror stories. Dangerous, disgusting, pathetic horror stories.
robbedpeter 5y ago
No third party management. Housing is something I am perfectly OK with requiring a landlord to be personally responsible for, and that means you can't shunt inefficiencies onto some faceless management corporations who exist as a buffer between landlords and the human beings. One perverse incentive in this market is the ability to distance yourself from the human consequences of profit based decisions. If you have to deal with it personally, and your community knows your reputation, the renter/landlord dynamic becomes a lot more civil and personal. Banks shouldn't own houses. People should.
genocidicbunny 5y ago
Generally, when someone forms a LLC for managing a property, they don't pass the ownership of the property to the LLC. The LLC manages the day-to-day of dealing with tenants, maintenance, communications. But ultimately the individual person still owns the property. I think there are ways we can draw the line. We can accept that some form of property ownership is fine, even if it means that one person owns multiple properties. For example, an older couple renting out their old home after they downsized. But there needs to be a progressive tax on additional properties. Something like that by the time you own 10 properties, each additional property costs you more in taxes annually than it can ever bring in (think 500k annual tax on a property valued at 500k.) Corporate property ownership we can treat two ways -- completely eliminate it, or similarly progressively tax it, but at a much harsher rate. Like, each additional property requires 2x the taxation of the previous one. And make any attempts to circumvent this very criminal and strict liability -- like 25y/life for the executive and board levels, and no arguing that it was some underling that did it.
- maxerickson 5y ago
  There's a whole industry around advising people to structure their holdings into LLCs, so I'm not sure where you are getting "generally" from. For example: https://www.avail.co/education/articles/should-you-create-an-llc-for-your-rental-property https://www.avail.co/education/articles/should-you-create-an...

zelon88 5y ago

If the case is as you describe then get the assets back in an individual person's name and just hire a management company. The only reason you would want to hide behind an LLC is so you can avoid liability as a landlord. That is the source of so many horror stories. Dangerous, disgusting, pathetic horror stories.

robbedpeter 5y ago

No third party management. Housing is something I am perfectly OK with requiring a landlord to be personally responsible for, and that means you can't shunt inefficiencies onto some faceless management corporations who exist as a buffer between landlords and the human beings. One perverse incentive in this market is the ability to distance yourself from the human consequences of profit based decisions. If you have to deal with it personally, and your community knows your reputation, the renter/landlord dynamic becomes a lot more civil and personal. Banks shouldn't own houses. People should.

genocidicbunny 5y ago

Generally, when someone forms a LLC for managing a property, they don't pass the ownership of the property to the LLC. The LLC manages the day-to-day of dealing with tenants, maintenance, communications. But ultimately the individual person still owns the property. I think there are ways we can draw the line. We can accept that some form of property ownership is fine, even if it means that one person owns multiple properties. For example, an older couple renting out their old home after they downsized. But there needs to be a progressive tax on additional properties. Something like that by the time you own 10 properties, each additional property costs you more in taxes annually than it can ever bring in (think 500k annual tax on a property valued at 500k.) Corporate property ownership we can treat two ways -- completely eliminate it, or similarly progressively tax it, but at a much harsher rate. Like, each additional property requires 2x the taxation of the previous one. And make any attempts to circumvent this very criminal and strict liability -- like 25y/life for the executive and board levels, and no arguing that it was some underling that did it.

maxerickson 5y ago
There's a whole industry around advising people to structure their holdings into LLCs, so I'm not sure where you are getting "generally" from. For example: https://www.avail.co/education/articles/should-you-create-an-llc-for-your-rental-property https://www.avail.co/education/articles/should-you-create-an...