I own 2 houses (one being my personal) with a quite a bit of equity in them. What is the best way to go about protecting them? Best way to protect them from each other in case of a lawsuit? One is my personal and another is rented out on yearly contract. Single guy can't put it in my wifes name or anything.
Anything would help
buy good liability insurance ($1-2M) and forget about it. many, many lawsuit settle for insurance amts. The probability you every need it is extremely small, but its worth the couple hundred dollars a year.
Goodness! How much equity is the OP trying to protect that would justify the premium of a $1-$2M insurance policy??? I'd say go out and get an equity line or credit line on the property for the equity. Do not use the credit line or spend the cash. Keep balance to zero - total available credit will still show up on title as a lien on the property. Shop around for the lowest yearly fee on the credit line - that will be cheaper than insurance premiums.
Remember, plaintiffs' lawyers will not even take a case unless there is $$ to make on the properties. The lawyers will look up the property on their asset search sites and see that it is fully leveraged - hence, no equity and no lawsuit award - at least not enough for the effort.
