I am trying to gather information before beginning to invest in real estate to gain "passive income" to increase retirement funds. I am leaning towards using turn key investing since I have a good full time job that I enjoy. I am struggling with keeping my money in the stock market since it has not been returning expected gains and is rigged against the average investor. I have been in contact with MemphisInvest and have been studying on BiggerPockers for the last month to increase my knowledge base and find out what aspects, questions, and numbers are the most critical for investing for "passive income" with my self directed IRA.

@Scott Kiser

Welcome to Biggerpockets. You got to the right place to learn more about REI. There are plenty more resources you can find under Education from how to's, blogs from our experts and podcasts.

@Scott Kiser Hi and welcome to BP and REI! Investing with your IRA is very different than with personal funds. The tax advantages and leveraging possibilities are completely different. For example, you won't be able to do conventional lending with your IRA, nor take advantage of the depreciation deduction. So, one question you may want to consider, are buy and hold properties the best "passive" investment for my IRA? Maybe so, maybe not depending on your long term goals and how passive you want the investment to be.

Let's see if we can get this topic kickstarted!  Thank you Larry and Michael for the greeting. I posted about using turnkey properties in my self directed IRA to grow my funds passively. I am thinking about buying 5 properties with 20-25% down using non recourse financing for 30 year term. While paying these mortgages I would use the cash flow from the initial 5 properties to save for the down payment on properties 6 through 10 and purchase them in like manner. When I reach 10 properties in my portfolio I would begin to pay the mortgages off using the cash flow to excelerate the process. I would be looking for properties that were fully rehabbed and cash flow a minimum of $300/mo with the mortgage and approx $800/month when paid off. I am looking for direction from anyone here who can speak to what requirements, concerns, and the numbers that I should be looking at to make my plan a success.

Hi @Scott Kiser

How about getting a headshot up so we can see you.

For what it's worth, I meet @Chris Clothier with MemphisInvest a year about - he's very impressive and a stand up guy.

I've been a subscriber to his newsletters for years and I'm convinced they are the real deal.

Best to you.

Originally posted by @Scott Kiser :

Let's see if we can get this topic kickstarted!  Thank you Larry and Michael for the greeting. I posted about using turnkey properties in my self directed IRA to grow my funds passively. I am thinking about buying 5 properties with 20-25% down using non recourse financing for 30 year term. While paying these mortgages I would use the cash flow from the initial 5 properties to save for the down payment on properties 6 through 10 and purchase them in like manner. When I reach 10 properties in my portfolio I would begin to pay the mortgages off using the cash flow to excelerate the process. I would be looking for properties that were fully rehabbed and cash flow a minimum of $300/mo with the mortgage and approx $800/month when paid off. I am looking for direction from anyone here who can speak to what requirements, concerns, and the numbers that I should be looking at to make my plan a success.

Scott, I don't know of any non-recourse financing that will be lend 70-75% LTV (20-25% down). But if you do, please let me know. To my knowledge non-recourse tends to be in the 50-60% LTV range, and has higher cost then conventional lending. Although I do think I saw one program that allowed for 30% down, but I think it had to be paid off (balloon) in something like 5 years. So, you may need to adjust your plan, for how many properties you can buy at first. On the other hand your cash flow will be higher.

Thanks for the replies Larry.  My goals are long term in nature and when I have completed this phase of investing I would have a million plus dollar portfolio that will be throwing off an income stream that will cushion my retirement.  I could also use a portion of this income stream to continue to invest in more properties that will eventually be left to my daughters.  I have just started investigating non recourse lenders and will let you know what I find out, if it is different from your findings.