The STR Entity Foundation Guide
Why 'just form an LLC' is the wrong start, and how separating the property, the operations, and the owner gives you one frame for liability, taxes, financing, and a growing portfolio.
New to Builders Finance? Start here. This guide introduces the whole Entity Structure system, and links to every supporting guide you'll need as you put it in place.
- The three-separations frame
- What each separation protects
- Right-sizing structure to your stage
- Where every decision fits
Start with the flagship above — everything else in Entity Structure supports it.
The guides, in order
In dependency order — Separate the property, the operations, and the owner.
The Three Separations & the Single-Member LLC
The frame the whole domain runs on — and how an LLC actually holds the asset.
Insurance vs. the LLC — Two Layers
Insurance pays claims; the LLC contains what's left. You want both.
The Management-Entity Layout
When the business warrants its own entity, and how S-corp fits.
Structuring a Growing Portfolio
Isolating multiple properties, and putting co-ownership in writing.
When there's a real choice
Judgment calls, not how-tos — each weighs the options for your situation.
Should I Put My STR in an LLC?
What an LLC does and doesn't protect, and whether it's worth it for your stage.
Work through it →Should I Elect S-Corp Status?
Only for substantial-services STRs — how the SE-tax math works and when it backfires.
Work through it →How Should I Structure a Growing Portfolio?
Separate LLCs, a Series LLC, or a holding company — matched to what you can finance and reliably maintain.
Work through it →High-Value Resources
The guide teaches; the tool implements.
Entity Comparison Matrix
The five decision layers — legal structure, tax, insurance, separateness, financing — on one reference sheet.
Pre-Formation Checklist
Decide, insure, check financing, form, then make the boundary real — in order. Fillable.
Operating-Agreement Essentials
The co-owners' decisions to put in writing — capital calls, guarantees, buy-sell. Fillable.
Stay ahead of the changes.
A weekly email on the financial side of short-term rentals — what changed, why it matters, and what owners should understand. Plus the STR Tax Mistake Checklist.
Deeper articles that complement the core curriculum.