Ep. 43 - Protect Your Assets From Liability With Land Trust with Cristen Martinez
Cristen Martinez is a cum laude graduate of Florida State University and received her Juris
Doctorate from Stetson University College of Law in 2010. While at Stetson University
College of Law, Cristen served as a Notes and Comments Editor for the Stetson Law
Review. Prior to opening her own practice, Ms. Martinez served as an intern to the
Honorable Cheryl Thomas lives in Tampa, Florida. She also gained extensive knowledge and
experience in real estate and general civil matters while working at statewide law firms,
Johnson, Pope, Bokor, Ruppel, & Burns, LLP, GrayRobinson, and Broad and Cassel.
Cristen has litigated cases for clients ranging from multi-million dollar corporations to
individual homeowners. Her experience in the large law firm setting has given her a
perspective and skill set that very few solo practitioners to possess. She is therefore able
to offer her clients the expert legal advice one would expect from a large law firm while
providing the personal attention and service her clients deserve. Cristen specializes in
transactional real estate matters and real estate litigation.
In this interview, Cristen discusses her journey from lawyer to entrepreneur, how to protect your assets, and how to structure your business for success. She explains that it is important to have estate planning in place, even if you are not interested in thinking about those things during your young adult years. She points out that asset protection is especially important for real estate investors, as leverage can be a powerful tool. She discusses the importance of using land trusts when syndicating apartment buildings. To learn more about Cristen, listeners can visit her website at Martinez Law!
[00:01 - 05:05] Who is Cristen Martinez?
- Cristen talks about the importance of estate planning and how it can help protect your assets and family
- She offers a new strategy for protecting your business by forming a trust
[05:06 - 19:44] Protect Your Assets From Liability With Land Trust
- It is important to make sure you are properly set up for your future
- One way to protect yourself from liability lawsuits is to use a land trust
- Choose the right structure for your business
- You need an agreement in place to protect yourself if something goes wrong with your investment
- Get an LLC or other entity protection as soon as you can, especially if you have only a few properties
[19:45 - 38:55] How To Structure Your Real Estate Business For Maximum Protection
- LLCs and land trusts offer different benefits for real estate investors
- Taking the time to set up your entities and structures properly is key to avoiding problems down the road
- Clients often struggle with understanding the tax implications of transferring property into an LLC or land trust
[38:56 โ 43:35] Closing Segment
- What brings you the most joy in life?
- Her family
- What would be the fastest way to success for an entrepreneur?
- Taking risks and not being afraid to fail is key to becoming successful
- What do you do for your health?
- Get outside in the sun and have a walk-in, for physical and mental health
- Where can people get in touch with you?
- Available on major social media sites (links below)
Connect with Cristen!
Website: Martinez Law
Facebook: Martinez Law
Instagram: Martinez Law
Want to learn more about creating multiple streams of income, wealth protection, financial freedom, or real estate investing? Join our investor club, check out our blog, get our free ebook on investing, or join us for our monthly wealth and whiskey virtual meetup. Take the first to your wins in life just head on to http://www.valkeregroup.com.
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Key Quotes
โTake the time but also devote the resources to put an estate plan together. However, that's a huge mistake in my opinion, because anything can happen to any of us at any given time.โ โ Cristen Martinez
โWith syndications, I do think you need some sort of corporate entity because that is going to allow you to specify and designate those shares and percentages.โ โ Cristen Martinez
