Four Benefits of Rehabbing A Home Using A Self-Directed IRA
We at CheckBook IRA want to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving and hoping that you surround yourself with family or loved ones. This is the time of year when we take stock in our investment performance and pat ourselves on the back or give ourselves a kick in the pants.
Retirement accounts are becoming a major source of security for our financial future and because of this more people want to take as much control as possible over these accounts. That is where we come in. You have as much control as you want, but you can enlist the help of a professional advisor whenever you so desire.
I asked one of our very successful affiliates what they tell their clients to help them secure financial security:
- Stay true to your goals.If you’re invested for the long term, don’t sell off at the first sign of a downturn—maybe that’s the time to invest more.
- Realize what is fake news and what is real news.Too often, people read articles on the Internet written by fear mongers who have sold an investment short and are trying to drive price down. In other words, vet your source or sources of information.
- Invest in what you know.If you’re going to invest in Bitcoin, become a student of cryptocurrency. Don’t be afraid to look at your past career to see how you can invest in your expertise.
- Don’t be afraid to use a financial advisor.Good advisers relish the thought of their clients using checkbook-controlled retirement accounts, for it leads to all kinds of alternative investments and helps them show their value to the client. They can also help shuffle through the fake news and suspect investments.
- Invest with a worst-case scenario – WHAT IS THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN.That is one of the reasons I like real estate, for if everything goes into a kerfuffle, I always will have some place to live in or a income producing rental. I have enough stock certificates that are only good for starting a campfire.
We don’t invest to lose money, but to build our financial future and the best way to do that is to have a complete plan. Remember that the greater reward the greater risk.
All in all, the above are a few nuggets that I hope you can use.
Finally, we would like to wish you and your family a very joyous and profitable holiday season.
for a self directed ira can i use the llc i all ready have and can i use it for rehab only because i dont have enough to buy a house
Hi Ruby,
If you’re talking about an LLC that you already have, that you personally own, then the answer is no. You won’t be able to use that LLC with your IRA, because essentially you’d have to sell the LLC’s ownership to your own IRA, which is prohibited. As the IRA owner, you are prohibited from dealing with your own IRA. If you’re short on funds, you might consider either having your IRA get a loan to buy the property, or partner up with another investor. Hope that helps.
This was an excellent piece on clarifying how to use money already in ones Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, or Self-Directed, Check Book IRA to invest in real estate. I had this very question last week when I was wanting to know if I could use current IRA funds sitting in my Traditional IRA to build a new house on some vacant land I own in that account. My understanding was “yes” I could, but I would have to go through my custodian to direct the funds to the builder. While that will cost me custodial fees for any and all transactions, I can at least defer taxes on the sale of the property until I take a distribution from the account. However, I like the idea of using a self-directed check book Traditional IRA or Roth IRA to do the same thing, thus avoiding the custodial fees.
To my understanding, building a house with your IRA money on land you own personally is self dealing, and is a prohibited transaction. Please consult a retirement tax attorney before you take the step, otherwise your IRA may become taxable immediately.
Hey Suresh,
You’re right, but if you read her comment carefully, you’ll see that the vacant land is owned by her account; her Traditional IRA. In her case, there wouldn’t be any issues of self-dealing, because she doesn’t own the land – her IRA does.
First of all, you have extremely informative articles and I look forward to each of them.
My question is, can I use the same LLC for both my ROTH and Traditional IRA’s?
Hey Don,
Sure, its possible to set up one LLC, so that the Traditional and the Roth IRA each own a portion of the one entity. A few things will change, such as the LLC will be treated as a partnership for tax reporting purposes, so it will have to file a 1065 return and K-1s to each IRA each year. You’d also have some figuring to do if either IRA were to add funds to the LLC at a later date, and also some figuring when it comes time to make distributions. Give us a call and I can go through it in more detail.
First of all, a serious thank you for information to help clear up several points of confusion over the years.
To be clear, one cannot do the work themselves, but need to use contractors for the rehab work to be done, correct?
Thanks, Dale; I’m glad the article was helpful.
You are correct – the LLC should hire and pay contractors to do any work on the rehab.