Guess who is making a comeback.  Other popular investments in Self-Dircted IRAs are private notes, LLCs, bank stock, managed commodities and even Gold.  Real Estate is flexing its muscle and growing in popularity daily.  The real estate boom of 2005 has cause maybe one of the greatest real estate depressions of all time. Real Estate is very affordable and now it is a great investment again.

Prices are dropping to levels not seen in 10 years.  In Southwest Florida, Gulf access canal homes, built in 2005, are selling for less than $150,000 and duplexes in Cape Coral are selling for $40,000.  These are great investment opportunities.

Add the stock market crash of the Fall 2008, investors are turning to Self-Directed IRAs and purchasing real estate to diversify and solidify their investments.

How does one get started purchasing real estate in an IRA?  Opening a Self-Directed IRA is easy.  Download the forms at www.entrustfreedom.com.  The application is three pages long.  Now that the account is open, the account must be funded.  Typically the most popular way to fund an IRA account is to transfer from an existing IRA account.  This transfer can take about 2 weeks. There are ways to speed this up if up if necessary. The other two ways fund an account is an annual contribution, or a rollover from a 401k. 

Now that the account is funded, you will need to find the investment.  It is important to know with Self-Directed Accounts, to make money, you must find investments, the administrator cannot sell you investments.  If you are working with a realtor, the contract for your real estate will be titled in the name of your Administrator, with our company it is Entrust Freedom for the benefit of John Doe IRA #12345 for example.  After the contract is accepted, Entrust will work with the closing agent to purchase the asset in the name of your retirement account.  Title will be the same as the contract.

All income and expenses associated with the real estate now belong to the IRA.  If rent is recieved it must be deposted to the IRA account.  All expenses must be paid by the IRA account, for example property taxes, and insurance.

The neat thing about Self Directed IRAs, All Real Estate can qualify to be purchased in an IRA.  The most common examples are rental properties including houses and condominiums, vacant land, commercial land, fixer uppers, and foreign properties.    If you dont have enough money in your account you can also purchase a percentage of the real estate as tenants in common with a partner purchasing the difference.

This is just a brief overview of Real Estate IRAs.  Please feel free to email me at mail@entrustfreedom.com or call me at 239.333.1031.  Have a great day!