Hard to believe that finally an article in a major publication that makes sense, Money magazine for December 2004 actually has an article, and believe it or not about Getting Real about real estate investing it and what makes it interesting is that it talks about the Landlording 101.

The first thing that talked about is you want to set up a single person limited liability Corp. or LLC. I have been harping on this for ever, that if you want to be in real estate and you don't haven't LLC set up you are putting yourself in unbelievable danger. Not just what you have today, but also what you will have in years to come.

The cost of an LLC is pennies, the risk you put yourself and your loved ones in your family runs in hundred thousand dollars. Last time I checked homeless people don't get sued in America, only people with something to lose do.

This article also talks about the power of real estate investor's getting a real estate license and the readers of this site know that I have said it before an I will say it again. I just don't see any downside or any disadvantages in getting a Realtor license.

Not only you get access to MLS, which helps you scout for new properties but you also get a better chance to get a feel of the market rents (Realtors when handling leases typically list leases on MLS also – when searching on MLS, the first few listings when you set the Minimum Price option to zero are usually leases - and neighborhoods are you looking.

What I disagree in this article when the author talks about not paying anybody 6% percent broker permission when you decide the sell your rental. Because you do use somebody else broker license to do a selling part of an and you will end up paying something at least 3 percent of your buyer agent involved. But in the long run I think having a courage and putting in the effort to get the Realtor license as a one-win situation.

It also talked about getting the bids from several general contractors and hiring a good property inspector before buying good. I would add asking for at least 3 references from these contractors before you start throwing money in the house. My experience the bad ones will just vanish away as soon as you ask for references.