Real estate investment for retirees

[RiverBird]

Excellent info, thanks for posting.

[Lakewooder]

Yep thanks MJ. I would never consider doing that with my IRA as most of my other assets are already in Real Estate.

I have a dozen properties and they do well. I'm in Dallas and in a close-in neighborhood with great schools offering International Baccalaureate equidistant to downtown, SMU and White Rock Lake. There are many parks, trails, three golf courses and two rail lines with several stations. Also unique shops, pubs, restaurants and a theater / academic / literary - journalism / PR 'scene'.

I never have problems leasing anything and the appreication has been good and I expect that to continue. The area is about 6.5 million in population and it's projected there will be another million every 7-10 years.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

you see a lot of talk of buying property through your ira. dont fall for these pitches to buy real estate thru your ira. this can be a horrible deal. all the benefits of buying a property go right out the window

...

Correct, many landmines in this 'self-directed - RE investment', as self is not YOU (trustee, and THEY are often scammers). Similar pitch is coming from various business entities. Frannet is a legitimate business, but I question their recent focus on doing this (buying a franchise) with your IRA / rollover 401K. It targets their most likely customer (laid off executives) but a BUSINESS purchase through IRA is even more risky that an investment in income RE.

Once you 'co-mingle funds', (I.e. Have to 'feed' your investment) or exceed the IRA's contribution to the 'investment' (RE or business) the entire IRA is taxable along with potential early withdrawal fees.

There are some folks making BIG money in this 'self-directed' IRA process, but it is often NOT the owner / contributor of the IRA.