Investing in Real Estate Using Your IRA

Did you know you can use your IRA to invest in Real Estate? I’m really excited about this concept! Many of us have money sitting in an IRA earning 2% a year. What if you could quadruple that or more with no tax repercussions? There are a few ways to do just that, purchase property and seller carry the note, fix and flip, or buy and hold. You’ll need an experienced Self-directed Custodian and most likely (recommended) a new LLC, and then you’re ready to rock. With the LLC created you can also partner with other IRAs, different types of accounts, and individuals to raise capital. So, let’s go into a little more detail about these 3 strategies.

We’ll start with the quickest, and in most cases, largest return; the fix and flip. Once you’ve rolled your IRA into self-directed, you can purchase just about any type of Real Estate you want. I would look for distressed, off-market, auction, or wholesale properties, because they leave the most room in the re-sale margin. Do your research and know your area, including the re-sale demographic and what they’re looking for so your DOM (days on market) are minimal. You’ll need a quick turn time, because your IRA has to be responsible for all the expenses until it’s sold. Playing on that note, make sure you have enough wiggle room from the purchase price in case unexpected expenses come up during the rehab process. When the property sells, the proceeds go back into your IRA to re-invest.

So what to do with your new capital? Let’s purchase some buy and hold properties! Just like the fix and flip strategy, all of the expenses need to come from the IRA, so make sure you leave operating expenses. Additionally, hire a Property Management company. The rules are tricky about related parties, and what you can and cannot be involved in as far as repairs, tenants, etc, so it’s best to stay at arm’s length here. After considering these two things, you’re ready to go. Consider looking for already occupied properties so you know the cap rate and operating expenses. That’s the cool thing about this strategy, you know the exact percentage of increase and your recurring expenses before you purchase!

There’s another way to predetermine your increase in percentage earned, and stay hands off… Consider this; there are still buyers out there repairing their credit from the recession, who can’t qualify for conventional financing, but have the down payment cash. These buyers look for seller carry listings, and expect to pay a higher interest rate. So you, as the IRA owner, can buy a property, list it for sale as a seller carry, and determine your own interest rate. Pretty cool right? Now you’ve put 10-20% back in immediately and jumped your yearly ROR (rate of return) from 2% to 9% (or whatever terms you choose).

So that’s my Piece. Are you excited now too? I hope you enjoyed it, maybe learned something, and have a new avenue to create wealth for retirement.