217 Mail-Right Show With Special Guest Jennifer Gligoric & Brian Price
In the real estate industry, a lot of legalities are involved, especially once clients decide to purchase a property. Teaching real estate agents, investors, and entrepreneurs the essentials of realty operations and structure is a necessary learning process, especially at the beginning of agents’ careers. A lot goes on in paper in real estate; as such, it’s best to know how to protect yourself and your clients during transactions.
This Mail-right episode, we explore the basics of asset protection and the benefits of anonymity in providing a barrier against potential lawsuits against you and your company.
Joining us for this podcast are Jennifer Gligoric – Price and Brian Price, co-founders of the firm Leafy Legal Services. Leafy Legal Services helps real estate investors and realty entrepreneurs protect their assets and provides legal in the course of property purchases and other realty businesses. Jennifer and Bran aspire for real estate agents to acquire generational wealth and healthy financial practices. Hopefully, through the right counseling and legal advice, realtors will be able to protect themselves and their businesses from potential legal risks.
Legal Protection
Most real estate agents who work under a brokerage assume that they are protected and safe from lawsuits. However, if you and your brokerage have not established right and ethical legal set up, you could put yourself, your family, and family’s assets at risk for exposure. Without a proper legal set-up with your brokerage, the likelihood of you losing your home and assets is high. Before setting up legal protection, as a realtor, you must approach things with a business-like mindset and treat every step of your transactions with more caution.
Limited Liability Company
Protecting your assets is a must when you are starting your real estate company. For realtors, one of the best practices in the industry is to have a company or the brokerage you work to sign the papers. This way, you can protect yourself by no longer using your name on the back-end. Another practice Leafy Legal Service suggests for real estate companies is to establish a series of Limited Liability Company (LLC).
Real estate LLC is a corporate structure that is there to safeguard you from being sued if things go awry and likewise to protect your assets such as properties, bank accounts, or investments. Through establishing an LLC, real estate investors and their businesses will be considered as two separate entities, which in turn prevents them from being personally liable in debt or lawsuits. Additionally, LLC offers tax advantages and the flexibility to accommodate the demands of their businesses as well.
Research and Investigation
Working in the real estate industry, as an investor or as a real estate agent, you need to investigate properties and contracts before presenting them to clients. Do your research on properties and state laws as early as possible before you start spending money on any legal investigation.
As a real estate professional, it is a must for you to learn about the legalities involving your client’s assets and safety in buying properties, especially as an investment. And for most investors, Jennifer and Brian recommend for them to visit investment forums like Bigger Pockets to do their research and due diligence. With the different layers to the legalities of real estate, it can be a challenge looking for a trusted firm that specializes in the real estate industry. For a more detailed discussion on legal processes, you may visit leafylegalservices.com and get a free e-book on real estate laws and a 15-minute discovery call for your inquiries.
