How to Invest in Real Estate - Types of Ownership

With the stock market the way it is these days, peoplethe opportunity to transfer the ownership interest
are looking for different places to invest their moneywithout triggering local transfer taxes in some cases.
and one of those places may just be real estate. IThere are several types of corporations you can form
know I know, we're coming through, and in fact are stillincluding a C. corporation and an S. corporation.
in the middle of, one of the worst recessions in theBecause an S. corporation allows profits to flow
history of America that was fueled primarily by a hugethrough to you as an individual, many investors prefer
bubble in real estate investing...this method but check with your accountant and tax
But the fact of the matter remains that prices onlawyer first just to be sure.
many property investments are dropping dramaticallyThe next type of ownership is partnership ownership. If
because of the recession which means that it may beyou have several investors going in together to
time to start looking to get back into the real estatepurchase as one, than a partnership may be the right
game.ownership entity for you. Partnerships are usually not
If you are new to this game then you have come totreated as separate taxable entities but instead allow
the right place because today I want to talk abouteverything to flow through to the individual including
several different ways of investing in it and I wanted toprofit and losses.
specifically talk about the different types of ownershipFinally, another type of ownership is trust ownership.
that you can come to expect.Many states allow the creation of trusts that operates
How you own your investment is important for asolely to title these specific types of investments. In this
number of reasons including tax purposes, as well ascase the trust may not be treated as a taxable entity
professional liability (what happens if a tenet in yourbut as a pass through entity sort of like a partnership.
rental house slips and sues you?!). Today I will discussThis kind of entity may not be for the average
several ownership entities that you can choose from.investor as it can be a little more complicated in certain
The first type of ownership is simply individualcircumstances.
ownership. In this case, all the profits and liabilities flowHowever you choose to own real estate whether as
directly to you as an individual but you are alsoan individual or with your own Corporation or through a
exposed to the greatest risk.partnership or a trust, make sure that the underlying
The next type of ownership is corporate ownershipreal estate investment is sound and the potential for
which allows you to limit your liability and also gives youprofit is large enough to make it a good investment.