Hi!! This is my first post ever! I own outright one rental, have a section 8 person in another, bought a house this spring & am renting to my sister-in-law, and am looking for another rental now. All 3 properties are in mine & my husband’s name. We also own a small condo and our primary residence has a HELOC we have to used to buy the properties. I have everything depostied into my checking acct., pay all the bills r/t the rentals from that same cking acct. My husband & I do the majority of the repairs (exception roofing) Do I need to have a seperate checking account for these, and should I put some things in a Revokable Living trust? We have everything insured trhu the same ins. co., Frankenmuth. I haven’t wanted to get a business acct. because it would cost $$, but want to be legal, and business-like.
You are legal and business-like by the way you conduct business. Using an entity doesn’t make you more business-like. Entities are only tools to fill a need. You may benefit from a living trust for business continuity and estate planning. A second account for business expenses and income will make accounting easier.
Our business checking acct is free. What are you being told are the costs of a business checking account?
I use both HSBC and Comerica Bank for my business chequing accts and both are free to open and free to use…
I have separate checking accounts for my rental acitivity and for my personal spending.
Both accounts were opened as personal accounts. The only difference between the accounts is what I put on the check. I am allowed four lines of information in the upper left corner of the check. Most people put their name and return address (usually three lines of information).
On the rental property account, I have my name on the first line and my return address on the third and fourth lines. On the second line, I have “Property Management Account”
Since business accounts at my bank have more fees than a personal account, I just opened a personal account for my rental activity.