Author Topic: Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought  (Read 2893 times)

workwheniwantto

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Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought
« on: June 28, 2013, 01:04:51 PM »
I tried the search function, and was surprised to find no reference to "land trust" in the MMM forums.  Does anyone here use them, and what forms/trustees do you use? 

I would like to find someone to trustee my assets and I would trustee theirs in return.  I would prefer someone with a really common last name in another state; I can offer the same for you - I am Miller in PA, which is up there with Jones and Smith around here. 

arebelspy

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Re: Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought
« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2013, 08:42:03 PM »
To what point and purpose?
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workwheniwantto

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Re: Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought
« Reply #2 on: June 29, 2013, 07:49:01 AM »
To what point and purpose?

My primary reason to put in a land trust is to keep ownership private - less of a target for ambulance chasers, and makes
"will have to speak with the owner" conversations more plausible.  Secondary reason is it makes title transfer easier - either for estate planning or for avoiding property recording fees and transfer tax. 

Main reasons not to do it are banks will rarely ever loan to a trust (unless you put in your name first, and then transfer - though I would not want to do that in my case, since that reduces the effectiveness of the above reasons.)

The out-of-state common name is not necessary, though the appeal is it makes it even more difficult to track down the owner since they need to get to the trustee first - and since only first initial, last name and state are usually required on the recorded documents, finding J. Smith in California will be a bit of a daunting task. 

It offers no liability protection (other than discouragement), so you'd need an entity be the owner of the trust if you are seeking that protection. 

workwheniwantto

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Re: Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2013, 01:42:37 PM »
Just wanted to nudge this to the top again.  Reciprocal land trusting seems like a mustachian thing to do - owning solid long-term, appreciating, dividend-paying investment, and reducing costs and headaches through reciprocity with (a) like-minded individual(s).

I have some draft Land Trust docs now, and can have my attorney review them free of charge for your state. 

ritchie70

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Re: Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2013, 01:07:52 PM »
I'm just having a hard time figuring out why I would want the risk of entering into this sort of arrangement with someone I don't really know versus paying my bank a few hundred dollars a year (a guess) to do it for me.

I'm assuming it isn't very expensive because we recently bought a condo from an old lady who uses the same bank and she had it in a trust they were trustee-ing.

There would be too much homework to be done to be at all comfortable about it, and even then I'm not sure I'd sleep well at night.


arebelspy

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Re: Land Trusts - Reciprocal Back Scratching Sought
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2013, 05:59:13 PM »
I'm just having a hard time figuring out why I would want the risk of entering into this sort of arrangement with someone I don't really know versus paying my bank a few hundred dollars a year (a guess) to do it for me.

I'm assuming it isn't very expensive because we recently bought a condo from an old lady who uses the same bank and she had it in a trust they were trustee-ing.

There would be too much homework to be done to be at all comfortable about it, and even then I'm not sure I'd sleep well at night.

Definitely wouldn't use a bank.  Maybe a lawyer.
I am a former teacher who accumulated a bunch of real estate, retired at 29, spent some time traveling the world full time and am now settled with three kids.
If you want to know more about me, this Business Insider profile tells the story pretty well.
I (rarely) blog at AdventuringAlong.com. Check out the Now page to see what I'm up to currently.