02:23
Robert Chadwick
Hi everybody, this is Robert Chadwick with America Mortgages. Thank you for joining us once again for our series of webinars where we invite valued partners on to share their expertise and to assist our clients and being able to be the most effective international real estate investor that they possibly can be. So today we are excited to have Lucee with Nobility Consulting, which is an LLC expert in setting up and the formation of an llc. So thanks Lucee for joining us. I appreciate your time. How the webinar will go, just so you’re aware, is I’ll introduce you can talk somewhat about your company, introduce yourself, and then we’ll go through the slides and then we will talk about U.S. Mortgage financing for non residents. And then at the very end we’ll have a question and answer session so whoever is watching can enter a question.
03:36
Robert Chadwick
These questions will be addressed at the end. There will also be in the chat a way to contact either one of our US Loan officers or Lucee Direct to set up an appointment if you would like to discuss llc. So with that said, Lucee, again thank you for joining. Can you tell us about yourself and what Nobility Consulting does?
03:58
Lucee Cesena
Yes, thank you for having me, Robert. Welcome everybody. Thank you. I am Lucee Cesena and I am the owner of Nobility Consulting Services. We are a full business consulting firm. What that means is I set up corporations. I’ve been doing it for 14 years. I do everything from DBA setup, LLCs, S Corp, C Corps, I do all of the amendments, I dissolve them and I keep them in compliance. So we have a lot of customers that we’ve opened up many LLCs and S Corps for and then we take care of the compliance part of it. Because it’s one thing to open an LLC or a corporation, but it’s another thing to make sure that it stays in good standing every single year and making sure that the customer knows what goes with that.
04:43
Lucee Cesena
So we make sure that our clients are in compliance and taking care of all of that.
04:49
Robert Chadwick
Fantastic. Thank you. And I know the LLC question is something that comes up probably on every single phone call we have with clients. So this has been a well awaited webinar. Again, we appreciate your time. So I’ll start the slides and you can go from there.
05:04
Lucee Cesena
Perfect. So we are going to be talking about understanding the setup and benefits of a US LLC for real estate and specifically llc, because LLC are really the best option for real estate purchases, investments. If we can go back to my last slide real quick again, I am the founder and owner of Nobility Consulting Services. This is my contact information Which I’m sure they will put it in the chat if anybody needs to ask questions or would like information about setting up an LLC and then we can go ahead. All right, so why invest in US Real estate? So there’s a couple of reasons, but you know, the stability in the US Market, the U. S. Real estate market remains one of the most stable and lucrative in the world.
06:01
Lucee Cesena
There’s constant developments taking place and there’s a lot of homes to be purchased for investments. Fix and flips, you know, primary whatever you’re looking to do. There is so much to do here. There’s high returns on investment. You know, you can buy a property today and in three years you’re already getting a return on that investment by having equity in the home or prices going up. So there’s a lot that can be done when purchasing in the U.S. Diversification of your portfolio or owning property in the U.S. Offers diversification. And particularly for international investors, because of the fact that you guys are purchasing here, you may not live here. So you have the option of doing things like Airbnbs, renting it out, or even if you wanted to, again fix and then flip it.
06:52
Lucee Cesena
The values out here are a lot higher, as I’m sure every one of us knows, and then attractive funding, financing options. So there’s a lot of US Lenders that offer so many different financing options from, you know, FHA to stated documents. And again, that’s not my specialty, but I know that there’s an array of them. So those are some of the great reasons why it is good to purchase and invest in the US Next slide. All right, so benefits of setting up a US Entity asset protection. You know, a lot of lenders nowadays, especially if you’re going a private lender sector route, but any type of lender are really trying to gear away towards lending to individuals because of the protection.
07:39
Lucee Cesena
And even for yourself, if you’re going to buy a property and invest your money into something, and if you’re going to rent it out or if you’re developing whatever the case may be, somebody can come in and sue you. And what you don’t want to happen is to have your personal assets be at risk. The money in your bank, the homes that you currently own, vehicles, whatever it is, you want to protect your personal assets. And in order to do that, you set up a legal separate entity. You set up that entity, your home becomes a part of that entity, it becomes the asset of that. And then if somebody sues you, they are only allowed to get what is in that asset. So in that corporation, if it’s one property, that’s all they have access to.
08:23
Lucee Cesena
So it protects you from your assets personally. Tax benefits. If you are purchasing more than one property or doing developments and you are making loads of money doing that, you’re going to be taxed as an individual, which takes you to higher tax rates and you don’t get a lot of the tax benefits and write offs that you would by having a business. So having properties in a business in an LLC gets you tax cuts, tax rate cuts, and then also you get to do your tax write offs and you get the asset protection. Also, the ease of ownership, setting up a business entity allows investors to more easily manage property purchases, especially when handling multiple properties. So again, you’re going to purchase a property through your business, the business does it. If it needs to sell, you sell it through the business.
09:13
Lucee Cesena
And if that’s all you want to do with it, you close the business, you’re done, right? It doesn’t mess with you personally or anything, or you decide, I’m going to purchase a property through this entity, but then I want to sell it later. You sell that, you buy another one in the same entity and it just keeps going. So it makes it much smoother for you. And then also streamline financing. So again, US Lenders often prefer to deal with US registered entities because it makes it easier than having to deal with entities that are in, you know, a different country. As we all know, it’s just the business of doing that makes it a little bit more difficult.
09:50
Lucee Cesena
So having a US registered business makes it easy for a lender to do business with you, and then it makes it easier to obtain financing in that regard. And then the next slide now steps to setting up a business entity. You have to choose the right state and this is going to be a topic that we can talk about in a whole workshop on its own. Right? But different states do have different tax laws, different fees, and different regulations. And when I say compliance, this is what I’m referring to. When you set up an entity in the state, each state has their own compliance needs. Some have more than others, some cost more than others. So it really does depend on where you set up your LLC for your purchases.
10:39
Lucee Cesena
But the reason I say this can go on is because some lenders refer or prefer you to have your LLC set up in the state that you’re buying the property in. So this again can go down into a rabbit hole. But choosing the right state is what is really important. So before you just open An LLC in, you know, Delaware or Wyoming, because you saw on TikTok that’s the best place to do it. You got to make sure that it’s the right fit for you and for the goals that you’re trying to accomplish in your investments and what you’re going to be doing in the long run. And then registering the new entity, we have to register it with the Secretary of State. It’s not just a matter of getting your articles and then that’s it.
11:21
Lucee Cesena
For instance, if you guys are going to purchase property in California, there’s compliance that goes with that. You have to file your statement of information, or I’m not sure of how many you are aware of it, but there’s a new regulation called the BOI filing, which is the beneficial information ownership report that has to be filed with every new entity that gets set up. So making sure that you have the right documentation and the right paperwork and forms when setting up an entity is very important. And then also your employer identification number, this is the number that is attached to your corporation when you set it up. It’s required for tax purposes and for opening any bank accounts here. Now, as a foreign national, you know, it’s. It’s not as easy as just going to the IRS and applying for it online automatically.
12:12
Lucee Cesena
So there is a different way to do it, but it’s something that has to be done and it does go hand in hand with setting up the entity. And then as I talked about briefly, compliance, you have to stay compliant with the irs, with your local state laws, and with anything else that the state is going to require, whether that’s annual renewal, annual list officers, statement of information. Every state has different requirements. So it’s really important that you do know what those are and you stay compliant in that or you come to somebody like us at nobility and we make sure that we keep you compliant throughout the time that you keep your entity and then securing financing.
12:51
Lucee Cesena
So once you have your corporation set up and you are have all your paperwork and your ein and you have the property that you’re looking to purchase now you get to go to the lender with your package and say, I am ready to purchase properties. So the next one is why invest in. Oh, actually if we can go. We’ve already done that one more time. Okay, so how we can help so end to end service, we help from setting up your entity from the beginning and that’s what. By having a conversation. As I said, I know everybody looks online and sees what’s the best way to do it. What’s the best state to do it in? Everybody likes certain states like Wyoming and Delaware and they’re great because they do have some great benefits to those states.
13:36
Lucee Cesena
But are purchasing a property and the lender requires that you have an LLC set up in the specific state that you are purchasing that property in. So let’s say you want to purchase a property in Texas, but you set up an LLC in Delaware. Well, now you have the Delaware LLC that has to have permission to do business in the state of Texas because that’s where you want to purchase, which is doable. We would be setting up a foreign entity. But now you’re responsible for whatever Texas requires for the year, along with whatever Delaware aware is going to require for the year. So it’s those types of conversations that you want to make sure you’re fully aware of and understand before you just go and open an entity anywhere. And then again having the expertise in setting up that entity.
14:22
Lucee Cesena
I have set up entities all over this country for different types of businesses. I work with direct lenders, I work with direct consumers and businesses. So I understand what goes into it, what is needed, if there was ever a change that needed to be happened. So for instance, you might open something with a partner today, but later down the road you decide you want to get a new investor or a new partner, and now you and this new partner want to buy a property together. Well, there has to be some changes in that llc. So you want to make sure that you do go to a company that knows what that looks like and exactly what to do, how and how to make those changes, and then ongoing support.
15:00
Lucee Cesena
Once we set up your llc, that doesn’t mean you’re done or we’re done with you. You won’t get a call from me every day, but you will get your annual compliance updates. And if there’ ever a question, if you just need some consulting or you have, you know, one specific thing that needs to be done and you’re like, hey, where do I get this done? You can always contact us to help you in those regards. So having that helps a lot. And then the process. So the process would be a consultation. We’ll have an initial meeting to discuss your goals and needs. And the reason I like to do that is because every situation is different. It’s not cookie cutter, it’s not a blanket.
15:40
Lucee Cesena
You know, there’s some LLCs where you can have what’s called a series, meaning if you know you’re going to be buying properties and you’re Going to buy more than one in a state and you want to have them all separated in different llc. That’s a conversation that we need to discuss because I want to make sure that I’m putting you in the right type of entity and the right type of structure. As you’re growing, as your business is going to grow, your investments are going to grow. I want to be able to make sure that you’re set up properly from the start. And then the entity setup, we make it so easy that we take care of everything.
16:13
Lucee Cesena
So by the time you’re done dealing with us, you’ll get a book with your articles and everything in it to make sure that all of your documentation can be stored properly. Because the one thing you don’t want is to have your articles here, ein there, and then five years down the road you want to purchase a new property and you don’t know where everything is. Right. You want to keep them together and keep them in a nice safe place in neat order, because this is your business. And then ongoing management. So again, we offer management not for your entity, so management on your paperwork or any kind of compliance or changes, amendments, you constantly have us to take care of those needs when and if they arise. And then. So the next steps would be to either contact me via phone or email.
17:06
Lucee Cesena
I am on Instagram as well. I have two pages there, so I do a lot of content, sometimes with information, just educating, dropping little nuggets here and there, I like to call them. And then you can contact me for consultation or we can just have a discussion if you have questions and that would be it.
17:28
Robert Chadwick
Awesome. Thank you, Lucee. Super good information. I know this is something that again comes up on every single call. I just had a few questions on some of the items that you were discussing. So when a. Obviously when a U.S. Citizen, because they already have a Social Security number, but when a foreign national applies for an llc, I know you can do the LLC setup very quickly. You know, maybe you can talk about that a bit. But how long does it take to where they’re normally issued their tax identification number? Because I know that can be a delay.
18:06
Lucee Cesena
Yes, great question, thank you for bringing that up. Because yes, it can sometimes be a delay. So because it is coming from a foreign national, I can set up the entity sometimes in three to four business days, sometimes, depending on what state it’s in, I can have them the same day. But when it comes to getting the EIN number, we have to apply for it annually and normally it’s for business days. However, Sometimes the irs. And we’re dealing with the irs, and there’s a lot of changes going on right now. I have had some that take up to about a month to get, and that’s just because the IRS is slow or.
18:43
Lucee Cesena
And the only way to really apply for them is via fax, unless we want to mail them in, which I try not to do, because mailing it is much longer than faxing it, so it’s having to stay on top of them. So it’s. It can take anywhere from four business days up to sometimes I’ve seen 30 business days. It just depends on what the IRS is going through at the moment and what time frame we are. So for instance, right now we’ve had in the beginning of the year, the IRS went down for one week, the computers were completely shut down, and it is taking quite a while right now to get tax ID numbers.
19:18
Robert Chadwick
Okay, great. Great answer. I know it’s. Especially when we’re doing loans and clients want to close right away and they haven’t pre planned for their llc. I think it’s something that, you know, you need to take into account not so much the setting up of the llc, but finalizing it with the irs. So thank you for that one thing as well. I realize it differs, you know, by state on what the state charges and so forth, but in general, what is the cost when setting up an llc? I think there’s a lot of people that think it’s going to be tens of thousands of dollars, and I think that’s absolutely incorrect, but I’ll let you address that.
20:00
Lucee Cesena
Well, yes, because every state is different. So some states charge a lot more for the filings than others. So it rains anywhere between about 475 to about 975, depending on the state that it’s being set up in. Because again, the state fees alone range from that amount. So it just depends on the state, but I would say a good range is between 475 to about 975.
20:25
Robert Chadwick
And when you think about it, the cost is nominal in the protection that you have when you establish an llc.
20:32
Lucee Cesena
Well, yeah, let’s think about that. So if you have a property that you’re buying because you want to do it as an investment, meaning you’re going to hold on to it and either set it up, like I said, as an Airbnb or having renters in there, now you have people coming into your property. You don’t know what they’re doing. You don’t know if they get hurt and if they get hurt. Everybody loves to sue. And if they sue that owner, then everything that owner owns is up for grabs. So everything you’ve worked hard for to be able to put you in a position to own an investment property is now at risk. So having the protection of your assets is invaluable compared to what could happen should somebody sue you by being in this property.
21:13
Robert Chadwick
Yeah, absolutely agree. And I think it’s a very unique feature of the US where you can just, you know, ring fence your asset and that’s all. If anybody was to ever go after you for anything, that’s all they’ll be able to access. So, okay, so I will start the mortgage portion again. We’ll go over the mortgage programs. If you’re not familiar with America Mortgages, we’ll discuss, you know, our company. And then at the very end, please start populating your questions because normally there’ll be quite a few questions and Lucee and I will address this at the end. So we’ll see you in a little bit. Lucee, thank you very much. So again, I’m Robert Chadwick with America Mortgages. American Mortgages has one focus. We provide US Mortgage financing foreign nationals and expats.
22:02
Robert Chadwick
What makes us unique is we’re actually a direct lender and a broker. And with that stated, we are normally able to find or to be able to give you the best terms and the best rates of any US Mortgage for a non US Resident, both expats and foreign nationals. You know, this is all we do. This is our expertise. And you know, coincidentally I, I was talking to a client the other day and they asked, we asked, you know, where did you find us? And he actually found us on Chat gtp. The fact Chat GTP is recommending American Mortgages has to say something. So our general mortgage overview, we do loans for purchase, refinance and cash out. So basically equity release, if you’re a non US Resident, so no US Credit, no U. S.
22:54
Robert Chadwick
Exposure, we can get up to 75% financing in all 50 states. If you’re a US expat, then you can get up to 80% as long as you still maintain US credit. Another unique benefit of the US which I think if everybody is calling in from somewhere abroad, you will realize that most mortgages in your home country or the country that you’re living in have limitations on the age of the borrower for the amortization period. In the US you cannot discriminate against pretty much anything and age is being one of them. So they consider if you’re 19 or 99, you should still have the same benefits of a mortgage, meaning that you are able to take the longest amortization period regardless of age. Fantastic way to optimize yield.
23:48
Robert Chadwick
We have a really good program as interest rates I think are still a little bit higher than certainly where they were a few years ago. But we have a program where It’s a fixed 10 year interest only. A fixed rate that lasts for 10 years, you’re servicing only the interest. So you’re able to get maximize the returns over the next 10 year period. After that 10 years, the loan does not reset to the current rate. Could be higher, it could be lower, who knows. But it continues at the same rate that you fixed in the very beginning. But now you’re paying principal and interest. So it’s a really good loan. If you’re looking to optimize yield. Again, loan programs in all 50 states and one of the most important things that we do is because 100% of our clients are clients like you.
24:37
Robert Chadwick
We qualify the loans with common sense underwriting. So we’re not going to go through your tax returns, your pay stubs. If you’re buying a property for investment, we qualify it on how it should be qualified, which is the cash flow of the property. And I’ll go over that in a further slide. If you want to use foreign income, even for US expats, that’s absolutely allowed, no issues. And again we have for non citizens or, you know, US expats that are living abroad, no US credit is required, no minimum deposit required, meaning that you have no requirement to set up a bank account and deposit a minimum fund. All we do is dry lending. Normally you can get a loan approval within 72 hours.
25:25
Robert Chadwick
If anybody has gone through this process with us, I mean it’s probably much more simple than actually qualifying for a loan in your home country. We have a very good encrypted platform that allows you to do the application online after you speak with a loan officer, securely upload your documents. We say approval in 72 hours. Often we can get it in 24 hours, 30 to 45 day closing.
25:52
Robert Chadwick
And of course, as everybody is probably aware, because this is all we do, you are able to open the application and close the application, meaning that you can start it and end it all in your home country without ever having to travel to the US we have a variety of ways to do it and I think one of the things that we’re actually very proud of a company because we have such great structures, 97% of the loans that we submit actually get approved. So fantastic average. You can assume that if you submit your loan and the loan officer is willing to go through the process that the loan likely will be approved.
26:36
Robert Chadwick
We have loan officers all over the world speaking your language and in your time zone, no longer do you need to stay up at three in the morning to speak to somebody. In New York, you’re working with loan officers in the same region that you are in makes for communication and the process much easier. And if anybody has any questions, there’s a number that is listed there. It’s a 24, 7 number. You can reach a loan officer at any time. So going forward, our goal in 2025 is just to make real estate investing easier and more accessible to everybody. And that’s why we have partners like Lucee. We realize, you know, not being in the U.S. You know, you may not have access to what a US investor would have.
27:26
Robert Chadwick
So we try to make it as turnkey as possible with the right embedded partners. So our loan programs, this will go through fairly quickly. The loan program that I had stated earlier, which is common sense underwriting, is probably our most popular loan program. What makes this again very unique is we do not require you to provide your personal income documents. This is actually quite important, especially for people that are self employed and maybe don’t show their true serviceability of debt. These loans will fall under a, it’s called a dscr and it is a loan program that when we do the appraisal for the property, we get a supplement to that appraisal and that appraisal will state what the average rent is.
28:19
Robert Chadwick
If you’re buying a property that’s already rented, or perhaps you’re refinancing a property that already has tenants, then it’s likely we will go off of the rental income of the lease application or the lease agreement. Again, you qualify only on the rental income. We can go down to as little as $100,000 on this program and up to 3 million. These are 30 year fix and we also have interest only available. And again, if you missed the first part on the 30 year fix, it’s regardless of age. So just if you look at the bottom of the slide, this explains in very simple terms how these loan programs work. So when we take the rent, we will compare it to what the mortgage payment is.
29:08
Robert Chadwick
And when we say mortgage payment, we take into account the principal, the tax and insurance and maybe if there’s any HOA or condo association payments. Now as long as that qualifies On a one to one basis, which is very generous, then the loan will qualify. Now say perhaps it doesn’t qualify or there’s less rent than maybe what the mortgage payment is. That’s perfectly fine. All that means is your loan value will be adjusted to make it work. So instead of maybe getting 75% perhaps maybe you’re getting 72 or 73% which requires you to bring in a little bit more money. So the AM investors plus this is a sort of a, the loan program that we had in the, on the earlier slide, but it’s with a little bit of a boost.
30:02
Robert Chadwick
So say the rents do not qualify to cover all of the mortgage payment and you really would rather not put more money down, but you actually have provable tax income. We’re not going to ask for your tax returns, but if you’re employed we’re going to want a letter from your employer. If you’re self employed, a letter from your accountant. And that letter just merely states your two years of income and your current year to date income. And we’ll use that in lieu of tax returns. It’s a great way to be able to maximize your LTV when rents maybe are coming in a little bit lower than what you would want. On this loan program we do have a minimum loan amount which is a bit higher of $150,000. But again as all of our programs we have 30 year fix and interest only.
30:54
Robert Chadwick
If you look at the bottom of the slide, it’s a good explanation of how this works. And it works off of the debt to income ratio. So in this case we would go off of a 43%. If you have children that are going to school abroad, and this is something that is very common for us, you are able to purchase a property in two ways. One, if you can service the debt in your home country and you can service the debt in the country that you’re buying the property, where you’re, where your child is going to school, then that’s actually a very simple, easy program. It does require tax returns and so forth. But if you would prefer to qualify on the rental income, then we would look at your child as the tenant of the property.
31:45
Robert Chadwick
So again we would qualify them on the rental income of the property. It’s again a great way if you have children that are attending school abroad and you want to be able to provide housing for them. If you are a US expat, excuse me, we try to make this as if you are living and working in the US and walking into your local bank. It’s that simple. There are no difference in terms or programs or rates that we offer for expats than you would be able to get again if you were living and working in the us what makes it unique is we allow foreign earned income. And if any US expat has tried to get a bank loan, once they find out you have foreign earned income, it’s game over. So for us that is no issue.
32:36
Robert Chadwick
This is something that we deal with every day and what we expect and what also makes us unique. If you’re working for a foreign company, you’re obviously not getting a W2, which is like the end of year statement. We do not require a W2 as well. So it makes it a very simple, easy process. Again, minimum loan amounts are a bit higher than our own lending, but it allows you to get a loan from 150,000 all the way up to 5 million. You do need to maintain US credit and as you see on the bottom, it does go off of the standard debt to income of 43%. So we do a lot of loans for high net worth clients, mainly referred to by their private bank.
33:27
Robert Chadwick
As most people are aware, private banks, especially the international private banks, very few of them do offer US mortgage financing, a pure product of mortgage financing. And we’re very aware of that. So what we have is the AM high net worth mortgage program. No personal income documents are required. And as everybody knows with very high net worth people, the tax returns can be very complicated. If it’s multiple jurisdictions, multiple countries, it can be very challenging. Instead what we do is we qualify you on your liquid portfolio. We take a two month average of your stocks, bonds, anything that would be considered liquid and we divide that over a specific period. In this example, it is a five year fixed loan. So it’s divided over 60 months. But it allows you to qualify on your savings or your investments that you’ve been able to acquire.
34:32
Robert Chadwick
No AUM again is required on this loan. Amount minimum for this program is 3 million. And go it says 100 million, but certainly it can go above that if the numbers work. What makes this loan program fantastic is even though you’re using these liquid assets, and again it can be stocks, bonds, cash in the bank, there is no requirement to move that to another bank. And even more importantly, there is no encumbrance of those assets. So we’re only using those assets to qualify and not and there again there’s no requirement to move the funds or there’s no charge put on these assets the day after the loan closes, you can trade it. You can, you know, do whatever you choose to. So that is my presentation.
35:23
Robert Chadwick
If you look into the chat, there is a link to be able to arrange an appointment with Lucee and Lucee’s team. There is also in the chat a phone number to speak to a loan officer 247 if you want to arrange a convenient time, there’s a link to the calendar and even an email to be able to reach out maybe if you have any questions. So with that said, Lucee, you know, perhaps maybe you could come back online and we will start with the question and answer session. Okay, let me pull this up here. Get quite a few questions already. Okay. So how it will work is, I will read the question. If it is LLC related, you take it. If it’s mortgage related then. And then I’ll answer.
36:15
Robert Chadwick
So first question, are there benefits to living in a home that is owned by my own llc? It is even permitted.
36:25
Lucee Cesena
So not necessarily because again, when you have a home and you put it in an llc, it’s usually because you are having it as an investment or a business and you’re making money from it. So you’re not really making money from living in the home that you. Or from, you’re not making any money from living in a home. Right. Because you’re paying mortgage on it. So there’s really no benefit to it. You can do it, but again, it’s no real benefit to it.
36:54
Robert Chadwick
But what if on that question, and again I’m not, because we really don’t deal with owner occupied properties. But what if you held the owner occupied property and LLC and somebody got injured? I mean, would that be a possibility or.
37:11
Lucee Cesena
Of course, yes. So if you’re having a party and somebody gets hurt, then yes, there’s a benefit to that. I’m just not quite sure that some lenders will lend to owner occupied. If it’s an llc, it might have to be an individual. So that’s not really a question on the lending side that I can answer because again, it’s not something that we normally see.
37:32
Robert Chadwick
Good, makes sense. Thank you. Next question. Do you have to form the entity in the state that you are buying your property in? Oh boy. This is a question that comes up all the time. Yes.
37:43
Lucee Cesena
So that’s a great question. And it’s really up to the lender. So I work with a lot of lenders. Again, I deal with this on a daily basis. Okay. And I’m going to give you an Example, I had a real estate agent, or she was the broker loan officer calling me every day this week because their client has an LLC in Pennsylvania and they’re purchasing a property in Florida. And they needed to set up this foreign entity because closing was last week. Right. So everything is now, hurry up, I need it now. They did not have the right paperwork for that foreign entity to purchase it in Florida. So it depends. If you know that you’re going to be purchasing property all over the US then it doesn’t make sense to have LLCs in every state.
38:30
Lucee Cesena
So you can have your main LLC in one state and then set up that LLC as in foreign entity in the state that you’re going to be purchasing properties in. And so you’re not having all these different LLCs with different EIN numbers. It’s only one, but this one can do business in every state that you want to purchase in. But it really does depend on the lender because the lender may be okay with your LLC in Texas if you’re buying it in Florida, and then the other lender may say, no, it needs to be able to do business in Florida. So I hope that answers.
39:04
Robert Chadwick
Yeah, no, it’s a good answer. And as you know, America Mortgages is a direct lender and also a broker. I think it’s important that, you know, there’s a coordination between the loan officer and the client and yourself when they’re actually going through the initial steps to make sure that the process goes as smooth as possible.
39:26
Lucee Cesena
Exactly.
39:27
Robert Chadwick
Next question. How do I get an EIN number? Very good question.
39:32
Lucee Cesena
As a foreign national, you have to do it manually. So you will have to fill out your 2553, which is the application, and submit it over to the IRS with the copy of your articles. Or you just hire us and we handle all of that for you and make sure that we are on top of getting that from the irs. But you have to order it manually.
39:53
Robert Chadwick
And I think, you know, the cost that you had discussed earlier, just for the brain damage of having to deal with the, you know, any authorities, is much better to actually use a professional like yourself. Next question. How does the loan process work specifically for the difference between the process of purchasing a home under an LLC versus an individual? Again, a very good question. So we would prefer if you purchase it in an llc. And again, there’s only benefits and really no downside on why you would not, however, like your client, you were just talking about where they needed to close right away or whatever it May be we can do loans in both individual names and we can do loans in both LLCs. So it really just depends on your preference and what you would like to do.
40:48
Robert Chadwick
But they’re both available and really there is no difference in the process. Next question. What is a registered agent? I don’t even know that one.
41:01
Lucee Cesena
A registered agent is the person that you are going to put on your LLC documents. So your articles of organization as the person that will be contacted. If you are to be sued or if there are court documents or any type of important documents that need to go to the business, it will go to the registered agent. So this is a great question because everybody here is foreign national. When we set up the entity in whatever state we’re going to set it up in, we have to hire a registered agent and then there’s a yearly fee to keep that registered agent on file. You cannot set up an LLC without having a registered agent because they want to know that the documentation can get to you if it needs to when it is important documents. So that’s what a registered agent is.
41:48
Robert Chadwick
Okay, fantastic. Next question. Other than years of experience, what qualifications do you and your company have in doing this type of work? I. E. Attorney, tax advisor, et cetera. Believe that’s for you.
42:01
Lucee Cesena
Yeah. So I am not an attorney, I am not an accountant. But I do have attorneys and accountants that work with me and that use me to do all of their work when it comes to setting up the entities. So I am a certified small business consultant. I do have my certification in that and I have 14 years of working this specific field directly with the IRS and directly with the Secretary of State. So that is the answer to that question.
42:33
Robert Chadwick
Fantastic. And I think too if you. Again, our goal is to make foreign investing as easy and as painless as possible. And I think, you know, the US Is probably one of the easier places to invest. But as America Mortgages as a company we have contacts and agreements and referrals to guys or to girls like or companies like Lucee and to also tax accountants, attorneys, all of these service providers that add value to what our clients need. Next question. I am looking to purchase a property through an llc. For context. I am currently a foreign national, but I live in the US On a visa. I am wondering if I should get an accountant or should I do things myself.
43:25
Lucee Cesena
So this is going to be on what you want to pay because if you do an, if you get an accountant, you are going to pay accountant fees just as you would attorney fees. And if you do it yourself. You can definitely mess that up and end up having to pay more money because you’re going to still have to go to somebody to try to fix whatever you tried to do. Because there are, again, documents and requirements that need to be filed along with the articles. It’s not just articles. And I’ll give you an example. And this kind of goes to the other question. I had a client today call me that paid an accountant to set up a corporation for her and it still has not been done. And there are so many issues.
44:03
Lucee Cesena
Whereas I set up an LLC two days ago and I just got it back today. It doesn’t, it’s not hard if you’re doing it. An accountant is great at taxes and bookkeeping. Their specialty is not setting up entities, but some of them do it and they know how to do it. This is just my specialty.
44:21
Robert Chadwick
No, and I, I think it’s actually working with an expert. And we talk about this all with the U.S. Mortgages, you know, people like yourself that focus one, you know, one area and perfect it and become an expertise expert and an industry, you know, leader. Those are the guys that you want to go to. You know, they know all the ins and outs. This is all they do. This is all they see. And it’s similar with the mortgages. Probably 25% of our business are people that have gone to, you know, mortgage brokers or banks that aren’t familiar with foreign national lending. They get 75% through the process and the thing just falls apart. So, you know, if you have a BMW, you’re not going to take it to a Toyota dealer for servicing. And that’s sort of how I look at this.
45:12
Robert Chadwick
You should deal always with industry experts like Lucee. Okay, next question. Are mortgage rates and terms different based on the state where the LLC is registered? Say that’s probably my question. And the answer is no. So mortgage rates and terms, they don’t vary by state. It’s. As long as we’re able to lend in that state, we can lend in all 50 states, then you’re going to have the same terms. Now, some states do have issues where maybe they don’t allow prepayment penalties or whatever it may be in order to get the interest rate cheaper. Certainly that will adjust.
45:54
Robert Chadwick
But what I would suggest is, you know, if you’re looking at a variety of states or multiple states, you speak to one of the loan officers and they can tell you what is more favorable in many ways from, you know, all the way from, you Know the property tax to the type of loan available. Next question. Is it easier to obtain financing if the LLC has multiple members or co investors? Oh, good question. So in general, we can have up to four members of the LLC when you’re doing a mortgage. Now, one thing that you want to check, and it depends on which loan program we have, if a member has a certain percentage and I believe it’s over 23%, then they need to be included on the loan.
46:42
Robert Chadwick
So that’s something to take into account and again to speak to one of your loan officers about it. Next question. Maybe we’ll skip that one. Next question. Hi, Robert. I’m hearing this correctly. I don’t need 20% down payment if I’m buying a property in an LLC. No, that’s actually the LLC is the vehicle to hold the property. It doesn’t really have anything to do with qualifying on the loan. So for our foreign national loan programs, you’re required a 25% down payment. If you’re a US expat and you maintain US credit, it’s a 20% down payment. So regardless of if it’s an LLC or an individual, they still have the minimum down payment required returns. Next question. Are there any situations where an LLC would not provide light full liability protection? Your question.
47:43
Lucee Cesena
So, yeah, that is a question that people ask all the time. And I this is my answer. Any great corporate attorney can break that corporate seal. So although it comes and corporations limited liability companies provide asset protection, any great attorney can pierce that corporate veil. So it’s not really a definite answer of yes or no because yes, it does provide full liability protection. But if somebody was to sue and you had an attorney that was just a beast out there, they can break that corporate seal. So there’s not 100% guarantee in any corporation that you have.
48:24
Robert Chadwick
Okay. Probably not the answer that were looking for, but honest, I appreciate it. Next question. Any suggestions on how to build U S credit while living abroad if we don’t have U S Credit? Great question. We do not need U. S Credit. So our loan programs, especially if you’re a foreign national, do not require US Credit. If you are a U. S. Expat and you no longer maintain U S Credit, that’s perfectly fine. We would treat you as a foreign national just to start out with. But as soon as you got the mortgage, probably take 24 to 36 months, you should be able to reestablish your credit and then you will be able to refinance into a standard US Expat loan. So hopefully that answers your question.
49:14
Lucee Cesena
Can I add to that question?
49:16
Robert Chadwick
Yeah, sure, absolutely.
49:18
Lucee Cesena
When you form an LLC or a corporation, you can add a DUNS number to your corporation, which basically builds business credit. So just as we have our credit scores from 300 to 800, businesses have credit scores from 0 to 100. So when you start a business, you can attach a DUNS number to it and build business credit that way. So if you have a loan in it, or if you get a, you know, lease a vehicle through it or anything that you purchase through that entity and you have the DUNS number attached, it’ll start building business credit and you can make more purchases and do things with that. So I just wanted to add that to it.
49:57
Robert Chadwick
Oh, great. Yeah, great answer. Thank you. Okay, next question. I, and you put in parentheses, mostly understand the protection aspect of keeping rental properties in an llc, but I thought the tax benefits were just a pass through. What are some of the ways that an LLC can benefit you when it comes to tax time?
50:19
Lucee Cesena
It can benefit you in different ways. So if you are doing maintenance on the property, if you are doing upgrades or making purchases, or any of the money that you’re getting in now, an individual is going to be taxed, and these are just figures, they’re not exact. But an individual based on the amount of money that person makes is taxed anywhere between 12% to 25%. As an individual, all personal income, when you have it in an LLC, that gets cut in half. So now instead of 12 to 14, 24%, you’re probably looking at like 7 to 16%. So you’re getting a tax cut in the rate and then as well is you get to write off. So now you have expenses when it’s just you as an individual that has the property and you got to do maintenance on it.
51:05
Lucee Cesena
If you’re doing it as a business, Airbnb or rental, and you got to paint or you got to have somebody come in and fix things and do maintenance. That’s all your personal income. It’s not a tax write off when you have it in a business, in an llc. Now those are expenses that the business is doing. So all the money that’s coming in, you have now these tax write offs that takes away from your gross income. So there’s two ways to benefit from having the businesses on, the rates and the expenses.
51:33
Robert Chadwick
It’s a great answer and actually a really good question. And again, when I talk about American mortgages partnering with experts, we do have a, an accountant, he’s Actually a CPA and a tax attorney that we deal with on a regular basis and is, it’s in the middle center portion of our website on our concierge program right next to Lucee’s page. And these guys, if they are, I think that they’re one of the best foreign national tax accountants out there and they certainly can make sure that you have the best tax advice to optimize your rental yield. Next question. Does Washington state require the LLC to be based in their state?
52:19
Lucee Cesena
Again, this is going to be based on the lender and what the lender is going to require. If you are purchasing in their, in that state, if they’re going to allow you to use your, I’m sorry, if you’re purchasing in a different state, they’re going to want. If they’re going to allow you to use your LLC from Washington state or if they’re going to require you to set up a foreign entity somewhere else. So that really is going to be based on the lender.
52:44
Robert Chadwick
And I think, you know, to kind of add to that, when you’re speaking with one of our US Loan specialists, discuss that with them. And you know, again, working with a partner with Lucee in conjunction with your loan officer, you know, from the very beginning is the smartest way to do it to make sure that you’re not wasting time and money with your structure. Next question. Does Nobility offer accounting slash tax filing services?
53:13
Lucee Cesena
We do not file taxes. We do offer bookkeeping services, but that’s about it. No taxes. Because I do not want to be an expert in that field. So. No, just this corporation setup.
53:28
Robert Chadwick
Yeah. And again, if you go to our [email protected] there is the section in the center and it has everything from, you know, LLC set up with Lucee, all the way to tax expert tax advice, to FX transfer, to hazard insurance. All of the things that foreign nationals or US Expats living abroad require when it comes to investing. Again, we tried to make it as turnkey and as easy as possible. And people like Lucee and the others that were partnered with are not only experts in this field, but we’ve worked with them in the past and you know, we can stand behind them. Next question. I currently have my US Visa, so I am able to live and work in the US I am currently awaiting my green card. From a loan perspective, is it more beneficial to wait until I am a permanent resident?
54:26
Robert Chadwick
I am speaking with America Mortgages Rep, and they told me that the down payment is higher when not a US Permanent resident or Citizen. Yeah, that’s, it’s a little bit of a complicated question. If you are you know say being relocated to the US with your company and you have a letter stating that your income won’t change or will increase, then you can look at you know, buying a property before you move over or even while you’re there if you’re self employed or like you said you’re waiting on your green card, you would still be treated as a foreign national. So as a non US resident, especially if you do not have US credit established. So with that it’s 75% down, I’m 75% loan to value, 25% down payment.
55:19
Robert Chadwick
Now if you look at what the difference in rate is and we get these questions all the time, what’s the rate for a foreign national? What’s the rate for a US Expat? U S Expats is absolutely market rate for a foreign national not having US Credit, no U S footprint, no U S exposure, your rate is just slightly higher. It’s going to be anywhere from about a half a percent to 1% higher than what a US citizen would pay and the LTV is slightly reduced by 5%. But I think if you take a look at the overall risk, it’s, and again you know we do loans all over the world. It’s, it’s absolutely a fantastic rate and fantastic program. Next question. Can I use my properties in Canada to refinance and secure funding for a purchase of a new property in the U.S.
56:09
Robert Chadwick
So if you’re refinancing your properties in Canada and you want to use that as a down payment for your US property, all we need to do is see where the money came from. For AML purposes, the money laundering purposes, we need to be able to track any funds that are used in the transaction back two months or 60 days. So as long as you can show that you’ve owned these properties in Canada for 60 days, you’re pulling the cash out. We have the closing statement, it’s absolutely fine. Next question. This would be for you Lucee. I had an LLC for six to eight years. I let it close last year. I had my DUNS number. Can I re establish the same LLC.
56:54
Lucee Cesena
That is going to be dependent on which state it was in and how you let it close. So if the state closed it due to non payment or non filing for annual reports or something like that and there is a certain time frame that they’ll allow you to reinstate it if it is past that, you’ll have to open a new one. Other states, once it’s closed, you cannot reopen. So it’s not an easy question to answer. I’d have to look at the state that it was in and then take a look at the Secretary of State website to see why and how it was closed. But sometimes yes, sometimes no.
57:27
Robert Chadwick
And again, Lucee’s contact is in the chat, so you can schedule an appointment with her. With her. Quite easy to discuss something like this. And you know, again, if that LLC doesn’t work out, it’s inexpensive and rather quick, especially if they already have a DUNS number, I would assume. Or does that DUNS number connect directly with that entity?
57:47
Lucee Cesena
It would go to that entity. So they’d create a new one. Yeah.
57:51
Robert Chadwick
Okay, next question. Hi Robert, I am a US Expat living in Bermuda. If I set up an LLC for a rental quadplex property in Texas and look to buy another rental property in Mexico, perhaps setting up a similar structure there, would it be wise to have the LLC co owned by a C Corp, perhaps in Bermuda? And Lucee, before you answer this, let me kind of explain it on the mortgage side of it because we see this a lot. We see this especially for Canadians and we see it for Australians because often the tax situation in those countries where they’ll try to use an offshore blocker or foreign blocker on an llc. So that would mean I’ll just use Canada. For example, if you are Canadian, you set up a Canadian entity that owns a US LLC if you’re paying cash.
58:49
Robert Chadwick
And Lucee can probably expand on this, that is not an issue. But if you’re obtaining a US mortgage and whether it’s with us or anybody else, you have to have the individual as the owner of the llc. The individual can have a foreign passport, that’s absolutely fine. But you can’t have a foreign tax blocker like a foreign entity actually owning a U.S. LLC. And Lucee, you can perhaps expand further on that.
59:17
Lucee Cesena
Well, that’s one thing I’d want to look into because you actually can have a corporation own an llc. So that’s the only time you can have C Corps, own other C Corps and own LLCs. As far as it being a foreign having like a foreign national corporation, owning a US LLC is something that I’d want to look at for you, Oscar, because I don’t deal with a lot of foreign national entities as I only set up in the US but in the US you can have a corporation own an LLC and another corporate C Corp owning another C Corp. So that in us. Yes, but I’d want to get back to you on as far as outside and seeing if an outside foreign entity can own a U.S. LLC.
01:00:05
Robert Chadwick
Yeah, and you know, it’s certainly will allow multiple entities owning the end entity that is, you know, owning the property. But the foreign entity thing is actually a fairly common question. And I can tell you from a mortgage level, it’s, we won’t allow it and I don’t think actually anybody would allow it. There has to be a direct access to, you know, whoever the sponsor is, the UOB, the borrower, etc. So yeah, oh, maybe we answered a question wrong. And I think this is the last question. And then after this has been going on for a while and I know, you know, everybody’s patience, so I’m sorry, that wasn’t my question. I meant someone who owns properties in Canada and wants to use the equity from these properties as a down payment to secure a U.S. Mortgage.
01:00:58
Robert Chadwick
Okay, so I’m assuming you mean you’re, you just have a property in Canada, you don’t want to pull cash out of it, but you use the equity you have, you want to be able to pledge it towards the down payment. Unfortunately, that would not be possible. You would have to release the equity from your Canadian property in the form of a refinance or sale, and then you can use that cash in order to purchase a property. If you have any further questions on that, you know, please speak with the loan officer because maybe I’m not fully understanding the question and you know, it could be very complex, but, you know, please schedule a time to speak with one of the loan officers. So. And with that said, Lucee, thank you very much.
01:01:46
Robert Chadwick
Do you have any parting words that you would like to say to everybody?
01:01:51
Lucee Cesena
Just thank you guys for having me. Thank you for listening. And I am here for any questions that you guys may have. And yeah, thank you, Robert. Thank you guys.
01:02:00
Robert Chadwick
Sure. And we have a webinar coming up. I believe the date hasn’t been finalized, but we do these webinars once a month with partners like Lucee. And the next one we have is a Wealth Advisor and International Tax Strategies that can assist in when it comes to real estate investing. So again, Lucee, thank you very much. Your contact information is within the chat. So please, anybody they have any questions, contact Lucee directly so she can assist. If you have any mortgage questions, you can schedule an appointment or you can call directly. So thank you everybody for your time. I appreciate it. I think we had pretty much everybody stay on the entire hour. Lucee, super informative. We’re really glad to have you as a partner. And, you know, thank you very much.
01:02:48
Lucee Cesena
Thank you. Have a good evening.
Disclaimer: This transcript is AI-generated, so kindly pardon any transcription or grammatical errors that may be present.
