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Real Estate in an IRA, Part 2: Managing Assets in a Self-Directed Retirement Plan

August 18, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

Last week’s blog discussed setting up a self-directed plan that allows real estate in your IRA. As promised, this week’s topic covers how to properly manage those assets. There are specific rules you must adhere to in order to comply with IRS regulations so your self-directed IRA works for you instead of against you.

Now that you have set up your self-directed IRA, have it properly funded, and are ready to begin looking for property there are several things to keep in mind. While self-directed retirement plans allow many different alternative investment options, there are strict guidelines relevant to prohibited transactions and disqualified persons you must be aware of. Failure to comply could cause your IRA to suffer heavy penalties or even disqualification.

When exploring real estate options, know that your IRA is not allowed to purchase property from you or from another disqualified person. Your IRA is also not allowed to sell property to you or a disqualified person. Disqualified persons include:

The IRA holder and his or her spouse
The IRA holder’s lineal descendants (children, grandparents, etc.) and their spouses
The IRA holders lineal ascendants (parents, grandparents, etc.)
Investment advisers, managers and fiduciaries
Any corporation, partnership, trust, or estate in which disqualified persons have a 50 percent or greater interest
Anyone providing services to the IRA

Another important thing you need to understand is all property your IRA acquires is owned by your IRA and not by you. Any earnings gained, whether through resale or rental income, flow directly into the account. Expenses relative to the property must be paid directly from the IRA. When purchasing real estate in your self-directed IRA, it’s critical to plan for anticipated expenses in advance, so your IRA is prepared to cover them. If you have partnered on a purchase with other parties, your IRA only pays for its percentage of repairs and also must receive only its share of income.

Additionally, you are unable to use the property for personal purposes. For example, if you own a vacation rental you or other disqualified persons may not vacation there. The real estate was purchased to build wealth for your retirement. Using the property for personal purposes before you hit retirement age would be considered a current benefit and your IRA will be penalized, if not disqualified.

You are personally not allowed to perform repairs or maintenance on real estate in your IRA. Doing so constitutes “sweat-equity” and is considered a contribution to your account. The IRS only permits contributions to an IRA to be made in cash—and sweat equity cannot be measured in value. Repairs and maintenance must be performed by a third party—who is not a disqualified person—and paid at current market rates.

On the flip side, you do not have to hire a third party to manage the property in your IRA. The IRA owner is able to manage the property as long as you don’t perform sweat equity or pay for expenses out of your own pocket. Again, all income and expenses flow directly into and out of your self-directed IRA. Rent checks and other income must be written to the IRA and deposited directly into the IRA account. Income or expenses are not allowed to flow through the IRA owner for any reason.

Hopefully it goes without saying that it is crucial you perform due diligence when looking for real estate to acquire in your IRA. You want to find a decent property in a location suited for the purpose you desire. If you want a quick rehab-and-flip, the goal would be that the cost of the property plus the money it costs your IRA to renovate is low enough for your IRA to make a profit at resale. Location is key whether conducting a rehab or acquiring rental property—you want to be as sure as you can there is a market for resale or good potential for acquiring tenants for rentals.

If you have any questions regarding real estate in your IRA, please contact Kevin Collins at AdvantaIRA Trust by calling (617) 830-1070 or emailing Kevin@AdvantaIRATrust.com.

Wholesale deal in MA, Buy/holds in TX

August 18, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

Deals here and deals there!

Wholesale deal in Gardner, MA; 5BR, 2BA, 1084 sq ft, 2 car garage, 2nd lot

ARV – $114k, asking $44k, Rehab est. $30k, needs to close by 8/29/2014. Contact us today for details.

For you out of area investors:

Central Texas Property Deals

Cascades – Pfl – 412 Cascades Ave, Unit #2, Pflugerville, TX 78660

2215 Creekside Gtown 4Plex, Georgetown , TX 78626

Dog days of summer promotion

August 8, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER MEMBERSHIP PROMOTION!

So, Than Merrill and his team are coming to the Boston area August 14-17th. They will tell you to seek out your local investors association to find deals, meet people to partner with and meet people who can help fund the deals. The education they offer is great, but, they will tell you that the best place to make those connections is by joining your local association. Perfect timing for all of you looking to get a jump start!

Usually we do a special promotion in July….as you know, life has been crazy! So, instead we are doing a DOG DAYS OF SUMMER promotion:

View MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS and click JOIN NOW next to the membership of your choice.

When you check out, choose a DOG DAYS OF SUMMER membership option. Save $25.00 off an Individual membership and $50 off a Joint Membership! The DOG DAYS OF SUMMER promotion end midnight on August 13th!

The first 5 members who join or renew their membership by August 13th, will be awarded 2 free coaching sessions with me! Your choice of topics!

Remember, our membership benefits save you more than the cost of membership each year!

Learn how to get the most out of Boston Areal Real Estate Investors Association!

Diary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor – Rehab Tour, Sat. 8/9/2014

August 3, 2014 by Bernadette Trafton Leave a Comment

Good morning folks!

I got some incredible news from Mike and Jacqui yesterday! They closed on their property and we are doing a Rehab Tour on Sat, 8/9/2104 at 1pm at 26 McAdams Rd, Framingham, MA.

Please RSVP to Bernadette@BostonAREIA.com to let us know you will be there.

Check out Mike and Jacqui’s post:

We are excited to announce that we closed on 26 McAdams Rd, which is a single family home in Framingham that we picked up off market and are going to rehab and sell. It is currently in rough shape, it has been vacant for 3 years and needs a complete rehab. We will be posting about how we finanaced the project, started our company, and are managing the budget and work items for the rehab.

We are about 1 week into the project and moving along quickly with demo and landscaping. We will be sharing renovation plans and progress pictures shortly!

For now please check out our before rehab pictures!

Have a great weekend,

Mike & Jacqui

Diary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor 7/1/2014

July 2, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

So…after about 4 months of mentoring….listening to me (Bernadette) drone on about the website, Bernadette Trafton, Chief Connector marketing, branding and social media and listening to Peg (JEM Property Group) on deal structuring, writing contracts and more…I just got this blog post! I can’t tell you how proud of Mike and Jacqui I am for actually listening to us, taking it in and then, above all, taking action! This is WAY BEYOND COOL!

The Deal & Advice for Our Fellow Newbies

We finally have some exciting news! We have an offer accepted for our first rehab deal and will be closing by the end of the month. I have to say, we were starting to get discouraged. We had been marketing with door hangers, direct mail, driving for dollars and attending as many networking meetings as our free time would allow. But so far, no deal. Weeks turned in to months and we just felt like nothing was going to happen. Then one day we suddenly had a house and we are overwhelmed (in a good way) with the amount of work to do.

How did we get the deal? Mike and I spent a lot of time working on our website with the help of Thrivehive and wanted to make sure that if someone did come across our webpage it would be easy to navigate and easy to get in touch with us. We have received leads through our website about potential deals before but this is the first lead where we were like “Wow! We NEED this.” (*note from Bernadette, the tracking that Thrivehive provides is awesome, and they build the website using your ideas, so glad they listened on this one and their website – www.FitzProperty.com looks awesome!)

A seller was calling local investors to quickly sell his home. When we returned the call the seller stated he had accepted another offer with a national rehabbing company. Mike asked “Did you sign anything??” (He didn’t!) We told him we would view the property that night and get him an offer by 8am the next morning. So we grabbed our flashlight and ladder and snuck around in the dark peeking through every window and door. We were able to see the heating system, water and electricity through the basement windows. The upstairs was UGLY which is perfect for us. We went to bed confident and excited that we could get this house. This was exactly what we were looking for.

The next morning at 7:30am Mike gets a call from the seller who says he is sorry but he is only accepting the first offer. WHAT!? Even though we hadn’t even been inside the property we decided to take action. We made an offer during that phone call…. rejected. We made an offer over text message…. rejected. We tried to call again… ignored. Finally Mike decided he was going to email the seller an official offer with a copy of our check to purchase. A few hours later we received a call from the seller’s attorney. After a conversation between our attorney and the seller’s attorney we had a signed and accepted offer. Talk about a roller coaster of highs and lows. Peg was very helpful giving tips on how to pursue this deal and then walking us through the financing process. We may not have been able to seal this deal without her!

Now that we have an accepted offer how are we going to pay for this? They say the money will come when you have a great deal. True and false. The money comes with a price.

What we learned so far:

1. The quote “It takes money to make money.” is true. With this deal we had no issues with finding lenders, the problem is they can come with a big cost. We are looking at putting out a minimum of $35k with the private money and bank options we have considered so far. Do your research and be prepared to go all in, if you don’t believe in your investment who will?

2. Set up your business legally. The week we got the deal under contract we had to scramble to get our LLC registered. We had no idea that the majority of lenders only loan when you have a business.

3. Get all your ducks in a row. Be prepared and have your key group of people readily available. Lawyers, contractors, plumbers, electricians, real estate brokers, lenders. Mike and I needed some help here. Thank you to our mentor, Peg, of JEM Property Group for being available 24/7!

4. Be prepared to make a very detailed list of what you plan on doing with the property. Exit strategy, marketing plans, comps, rehab plans. You will need to present this to potential lenders and investors. It is also just good to have a business plan for your own reference.

We plan on having 2 open houses (one during construction and one at completion) for Boston AREIA members and Fitz Property followers. We look forward to seeing everyone and answering questions and hearing your advice. In the meantime we are continuing to market and look for future rehab deals. Keep reading the blog in to hear about our progress.

Also please check out www.fitzproperty.com where we will be posting pictures of our recent major remodel of an apartment in one of our rental properties.

Mike & Jacqui
www.facebook.com/FitzProperty
www.fitzproperty.com

How should you choose your IRA Custodian for your investing deals?

July 1, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

Choosing an IRA custodian is as important as choosing investments. Some custodians do not allow alternative investments to be acquired as assets using your IRA. Some self-directed IRA administrators that allow alternative investments (such as real estate investing) may restrict the types of investments they allow as holdings. Additionally, there are strict rules and regulations one must follow when purchasing assets. If you make the mistake of acquiring an asset your custodian does not allow, you and your IRA may suffer harsh penalties handed down by the IRS. The same is so if you perform a transaction that falls outside the boundaries set forth in the rules that govern retirement funds. Access the Advanta IRA ppt that Kevin Collins presented at our meeting in June – Retirement Revolution Presentation

If you want to control your own investment funds in your IRA, you must first make sure you open an account with an administrator that facilitates self-directed IRAs. These accounts allow a myriad of alternative investments in them, such as real estate, private lending opportunities, precious metals, oil and gas options…and much more. As the account owner, you have the freedom to choose your own investments to build wealth toward retirement. The custodian acts only at your direction to acquire assets in your account.

Even though laws governing IRAs allow real estate and other non-traditional investments in your account, not all custodians allow those assets. A recent example of this was illustrated by the tax court in a proceeding filed by Guy Dabney. Although Dabney familiarized himself with IRS allowances of assets in IRAs, he failed to comply with the rules of his IRA custodian, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., who does not allow real estate in the IRAs they administrate. Even so, Dabney performed an action to acquire the real estate that he thought would constitute a permissible trustee-to-trustee transaction. He had Charles Schwab wire $114,000 directly from his IRA to the company selling the property and asked the property be titled “Guy M. Dabney Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Cust. IRA Contributory.” The purchase was made, however, the property was accidentally titled in his name. Dabney was able to have that clerical error officially fixed, but Schwab still sent Dabney a 1099-R form, declaring he had taken an early distribution which was taxable to him as he was not yet of the age of 59 1/2. Dabney did not report the withdrawal on his income tax that year, stating the real estate purchase was made by the IRA and / or should be considered a trustee-to-trustee transfer because of the way the property was acquired.

In considering the case, the IRS made several determinations. First, Schwab does not permit real estate investment purchases or holdings in their accounts; second, the title company to which the $114,00 was transferred was not, in fact, an IRA trustee and therefore, no trustee-to-trustee transaction was performed. There were a few other reasons the tax court based their decision on, which can be read in full in an article published by Parker Tax Publishing, and the withdrawal was considered an early distribution—and taxable for Dabney under IRS regulations.

The main takeaway here is that even though self-directed IRAs give you control of your investment decisions—you are responsible for adhering to your IRA custodian’s own set of rules regarding investments they will allow your account to hold. Not all custodians are created equal! Due diligence in researching a custodian that is a good fit for your investment endeavors is critically important. Dabney could have avoided his unfortunate complications had he decided to roll funds from his Schwab IRA into a self-directed IRA administered by a custodian that allows real estate assets and made the purchase from that account. Be sure to select a firm that is accessible, willing to discuss your transaction, assist you in completing the required forms, and ensures you provide the proper documentation. Most importantly, a firm that give you and your retirement portfolio the personalized service you deserve.

With Boston AREIA’s vendor, Kevin Collins of AdvantaIRA, you will get the personalized service you are looking for when doing your real estate investing deals in and around the Boston area. If you would like to learn more about how self-directed IRAs can build wealth toward retirement, please contact Kevin Collins at AdvantaIRA Trust by calling 617-830-1070 or emailing Kevin@AdvantaIRATrust.com

Attention Boston Flippers – Deals are flowing

June 25, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

Attention Boston Flippers, Real Estate Investors and Rehabbers in Boston, Buy and Hold investors and more!!!

Deals are flowing in and around Boston! The last few weeks have been incredibly exciting! Nothing pleases me more than when my new and seasoned Boston Real Estate Investors email and call me telling me about their deals!!! If you were at Boston Area REIA last week, you would have heard our Mentee Mike Fitzpatrick talk about his first deal! The exciting part is that Peg Graveline of JEM Property Group and I have been having almost weekly sessions with Mike and his partner Jacqui Pietrzak. We’ve been hitting hard on finding deals, contract negotiation and more. I know that Mike and Jacqui were probably sick and tired of hearing me push marketing and getting their website set up and more. But, in the end that paid off!!! Last week, a lead came in through their website that was created by our friends at Thrivehive! Yes, I will personally connect you with them, if you’d like me to! After the website being up for 2 months and actually live for only a month, a lead came through. Mike and Jacqui will tell the whole story in their blog “Diary of a Newbie Real Estate Investor”, but, they got Peg on the phone and after following her guidance, put the property under contract and are working through the deal right now!

Right before the meeting, I got another email, from one of my newest investors saying that he had a property under contract in Mattapan! He wants to wholesale this folks, so, if you are interested, contact me. This may be an awesome opportunity for those looking to buy and hold and could be great for those Boston contractors out there who are looking to get in the game and will do the rehab themselves.

I got another phone call right before the meeting from an investor who had a deal under contract and they were looking for hard money lenders. I saw them at the meeting and they let me know they were working with a lender and the deal was in progress!

Then I got an email from another Boston Real Estate Investor, letting me know that he had a deal. We are still vetting everything so, I won’t get into the where’s and the what’s of it all.

I’m getting so excited about all the activity, that I’m setting up a member specific email list to send the wholesale, buy and hold and other deals that are flowing through the group! Become a member today, to be the first to receive news of these deals! If you need another reason to become a member, be sure to check out all of the member benefits that can save members hundreds and thousands year. I’ve always said that it costs more NOT to be a member of BostonAREIA! My brother, who is a contractor saved 70% on paint through the Sherwin Williams paint discount alone! It was definitely more than the $175 it costs to be an individual member! Oh, and if you were at our last meeting and you didn’t become a member, expect an email from me with a coupon thanking you for being a visitor in June!

My life has been crazy the last few months. My mother has been ill and in and out of the hospital, I’ve been having tenant issues, family craziness and more. We all have this type of stuff going on in our lives. So, do me a favor and before you let anything get to you, stop, breathe and know, as my friend Bruce Decker says, “Remember that crap is just fertilizer for future growth!”

Happy investing!

DESIRE, COMMIT, SUCCEED!

Bernadette Trafton, Boston AREIA Chief Connector

5 reasons real estate investors may want to exchange your property

June 2, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

Good afternoon investors,

Vice President Certified Exchange Specialist New England Region (877) 781-1031 Toll Free patricia.flowers@ipx1031.com

I was talking to Patty Flowers from IPX 1031 Exchange Services the other day. I asked her what the main reason there were for real estate investors to exchange properties and why it’s important to know about this even as a beginning investor. She shared this article with me about the five reasons to exchange your properties.

FIVE REASONS TO EXCHANGE – A story about Appreciation, Depreciation, Cash Flow, Diversification and Tax Deferral

If a real estate investor bought an apartment building for $100,000 in 1975 and it is now valued at $1.8M dollars, the property has appreciated significantly and is now worth eighteen times what it was in 1975. Clearly, this was a great investment. But, like all investments, one should analyze whether it is now better to hold or to divest the asset. The apartment building is currently owned free and clear of debt. It has been owned for more than 27.5 years so it is fully depreciated and no longer eligible for annual depreciation deductions on the investor’s tax return. Reviewing the cash-flow, after property taxes, maintenance, and insurance, it produces net rental income of about $3,000 per month.

$36,000 per year on an investment property worth $1.8M amounts to 2% annual income on the investment. However, the original $100,000 investment has grown by 1800% and there is now $1.8 million dollars’ worth of equity tied up in one asset. Since interest rates are at historic lows, what better time than now, when property values are lower than they were a few years ago, to unlock some of that equity and exchange, tax deferred, into one or more properties with greater income and long-term appreciation potential?

Through an I.R.C. §1031 exchange, this real estate investor can sell his investment property and accomplish a number of tax and investment goals. A 1031 tax deferred exchange permits the investor to defer federal and state capital gains and depreciation recapture taxes. The investor can buy property with improved cash-flow, and if encumbered, with an interest deduction to be claimed. If the replacement property is greater in value than the
relinquished apartment building, then depreciation deductions will also be available for the increased basis (the difference between the purchase cost of the new property, less the gain deferred on the exchange of the old property). Additionally, because multiple properties can be acquired through a single exchange, the investor can diversify the real estate portfolio, thereby hedging the investment risk inherent in a single property.

Appreciation, depreciation, cash-flow, diversification and tax deferral are important drivers for doing a §1031 exchange. Investors should examine their real estate holdings and do the 5 point analysis suggested in this article. If repositioning a real estate portfolio is in order, the valuable tax benefits of a 1031 exchange should be considered. Investment Property Exchange Services, Inc. (IPX1031®) is a Qualified Intermediary providing a full range of tax
deferred exchange services across the country including forward, reverse and build-to-suit transactions. We look forward to helping you and/or your clients maximize qualifying investments through a §1031 exchange strategy.

Be sure to join us on June 19th when Patty breaks down the process of 1031 exchanges.

Is Flip (Flipping) a 4 letter word that starts with F?

May 20, 2014 by bostonareia 2 Comments

So, I was talking to my friend, business partner and seasoned investor Ken Olson the other day. He said that he had a bone to pick with me. He noticed that I use the words “flip” and “flipping” when talking about rehabbing and reselling properties in our adventures in real estate investing.

He said, “Give me a minute to explain, I know “flip” or “flipping” is nomenclature and widely accepted, but, trust me, any seasoned seller (Banker, REO Broker, Auctioneer) won’t listen to someone using that language and will not take them serious – it is too cavalier and wreaks of inexperience – if you want your investors that you are teaching to separate themselves, they will figure out a way to take “flip” or “flipping” out of their vocabulary.”

OK, point taken…, “But, Ken, Do you know that FLIP and FLIPPING are among the HIGHEST ranking words on google for real estate investing? More people search the term fix and flip or flipping real estate than invest in properties. Since the “flip this house” phenomenon, it’s much more accepted…and does amazing things for my SEO and google rankings…. :-)”

To which Ken replied, “Flip and flipping is a widely accepted nomenclature and so is “doing it” – both have cavalier attachments and in “my opinion” are unprofessional and wreak of inexperience.”

“Ok, Ken, we are NOT going to present using the word “FLIP” or “FLIPPING” to any banks. However, you and I can have this conversation 30 times and I will still market using the words FLIP or FLIPPING because new investors and folks looking for places to network type in “flipping houses” “flip houses in Boston”, etc…about 20 plus times more than they look for rehabbing and reselling.

It is what it is and the use of the word means different things dependent on the application. In marketing it is a golden word that can help rank a webpage high in SEO. It will, however, be a great lesson to the group – DON’T use the words FLIP or FLIPPING when talking to banks, brokers and others because it’s pretty much a “dirty” word and shows inexperience. However, when it comes to SEO please continue to use it in marketing. :-)”

See you at our upcoming meeting on Thursday 6/19/2014

DESIRE. COMMIT. SUCCEED!

Bernadette Trafton, Boston AREIA Chief Connector

Are you able to leverage your credit or is it holding you back?

May 8, 2014 by bostonareia Leave a Comment

WHEN: Thu 5/15, 2014

WHERE: Hyatt Place, 116 Riverside Ave, Medford, MA

Thursday 5/15; 5pm – 5:30 pm for Members of Boston AREIA ONLY before the May monthly meeting!

Members join us for a special coaching session focused on Credit! Are you able to leverage your credit or is it holding you back? Veteran Mortgage Pro Ric Beaudoin of Sage Mortgage. This is not a Credit Repair session, however, Ric will cover:

• The basic facts of credit reports
• What is and is not included in the credit report or credit score
• Why use credit scores
• Components of a credit score
• Statistical weights
• Consumer rights
• Correcting and improving credit scores

Followed by OPEN NETWORKING from 5:30pm – 6:30pm, the energy has been building every month! Make sure you bring tons off business cards and save some for the forced networking section!

Thursday’s topic is all about exit strategies…you’ve got the property under contract, NOW WHAT???

Click here for all of the meeting details!