Real-Estate Investors: One LLC Per Property vs Series vs Holding Co.

What to know

• California property in a CA LLC costs $800/yr per LLC, so three properties = $2,400 before fees.
• Wyoming holding + per-property entities compartmentalize without CA multiplication (until CA nexus bites).
• Delaware Series LLC exists but is murky across state lines: most counsel prefer separate LLCs.

The cost of one LLC per property

Separate LLCs keep a lawsuit about one building from reaching the others, but in California each LLC owes $800 a year, and each series of a series LLC is treated as its own LLC for the tax. Three rentals in three California LLCs cost $2,400 a year before fees; ten cost $8,000. The fee on gross receipts adds more once a property's rents pass $250,000.

Holding company structures

A common design is a Wyoming or Delaware holding LLC owning property-level LLCs. It centralizes management and adds charging-order protection at the holding level, but any LLC holding California property is doing business in California and pays California's $800 regardless of where it was formed. The structure changes liability, not California tax.

Before you add entities

Price it against insurance: umbrella and landlord policies are often the first line of defense, and lenders may require personal guarantees that make entity separation less valuable for the mortgage itself. Transferring an already-mortgaged property into an LLC can also trigger due-on-sale clauses and, in California, property tax reassessment questions.