As a RE investor, should I keep my name off family assets, like our home?

[DebMT]

I am just starting out as a serious RE investor and wondering whether to
keep my name off our family home. Our home is currently in my husband's
name, but there is an opportunity right now, as the house is being
re-financed, to add my name, too. The one positive thing I can see for
doing that is to increase my net worth, which would be good for
purchasing multi-family properties (multi-family is where I want to
focus my investing, while keeping a handful of singles on the side for
quick liquidation if necessary).



Thank you in advance for any advice!



btw, I am planning on becoming a REIN member this week and can't wait to be able to learn more from the best!

 

[Thomas Beyer]

[quote user=DebMT]I am just starting out as a serious RE investor and wondering whether to keep my name off our family home.


It may make sense to separate business risk from personal home. it is a fine balance, as you need 25% of the mortgage for multi-family as personal networth.



However, any business has risk and as such some separation of net worth by spouses might be in order.



try to avoid:

a) a spouse being a director of a corporation owned by the other spouse, as directors are liable for GST/HST and payroll liabilities

b) signing a personal guarantee on a mortgage by one spouse on an asset owned by another

 

[DebMT]

Thank you very much for your expertise, Thomas. I've learned so much from your talks and look forward to learning even more as a fellow REIN member on these forums.