RE: How IRAs Are Driving Real Estate Investor’s Profits
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The Wall Street Real Estate Journal recently reported on a new trend:the real estate investor who uses IRAs for mortgage loans and is therefore benefiting from foreclosures.
According to The Wall Street Real Estate Journal, there’s a surge in real estate investor
entrepreneurs who are using self-directed IRAs to
invest in mortgages and defaulted real estate investor loans.
Though this real estate investment concept is not entirely new, the method itself utilizes an individuals self-directed individual retirement account. Many a real estate entrepreneur is using IRAs to take out loans that last three months to a few years.
These loans buy bridge loans, fixer-uppers, or small-scale developments.
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Using IRAs allows investors to extend mortgages, with interest of 10% or more. Lenders can take ownership of a property in case of non-payment,
usually paying less than for foreclosure.
The main drawback, though, is that in the case of non-payment, foreclosure can increase many costs, including legal costs. If the IRA cannot cover these costs, the real estate investor with the IRA can be inadvertently end up breaking some IRS regulations.
If the IRA cannot cover the costs, the real estate investor must either get a loan to cover the costs or must close out the IRA and pay any penalties
and taxes accrued.
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Owners of IRAs pay a number of fees annually.
These can range from $50 to thousands yearly and cover transaction costs and other fees. Despite the costs and risks of foreclosures, The Wall Street Real Estate Journal reports that some real estate entrepreneurs are actually anything but frightened of foreclosures.
For these business people, foreclosures can actually increase possible returns.
Lenders simply lend out no more than 50% or maybe 70% of a property’s value with payments that are interest-only. Even if the payments are not made
and the property goes into foreclosure, the lender ends up owning the property at 50% to 70% of its actual value.
Fixing up such a foreclosed property and selling it at a higher price can actually help increase the IRAs value, meaning that the savvy entrepreneur ends up ahead.
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Another option for lenders is to try to avoid the possibility of foreclosures in the first place. Using IRAs for loans allows lenders to charge 12% or even more to cover risk.
Many lenders also take extra precautions, such as taking first-lien position, which means that in the case of a payment problem the lender is first in line to be repaid.
Other lenders create flexible terms, such as permitting the debtors to rent out part or all of the house so that the loan payments can still be made. This can help prevent complete non-payment and so can offset foreclosure.
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There are a number of things that lenders need to keep in mind if they have their eye on IRAs. One consideration is that many states have usury laws that limit how much lenders can charge in interest. In California, for example, most rates cannot be higher than 10%.
According to statistics gathered by The Wall Street Real Estate Journal, although only about 2% of IRAs are self-directed, a growing number of those are being used by real estate investor businesses offering loans.
Entrust IRAs used for real estate investor loans have doubled annually since 2005.
Other companies involved in IRAs are reporting similar trends.
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Real estate entrepreneurs need to be aware that lending with IRAs is not all clear sailing. Entrust and other companies charge a number of fees.
The company charges owners of IRAs $2000 for unlimited transactions or about $250 annually per year per mortgage. Setting up a special account for transactions costs another $130. Additionally, entrepreneurs need to pay closing fees, escrow
costs, and various loan costs. Borrowers can pay some of the costs, but these costs can increase the costs of lending.
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Another problem can be with the IRS. IRS rules dictate that you cannot remove any amount of your IRA in order to do something in the IRA and you must pay hefty penalties if you need to take out a loan or additional source of money to pay something happening inside the IRA.
If you are a real estate investor, you need to ensure that your IRA contains enough money to pay for any possible outcomes of your loan.
This means that your IRA should have enough value to cover possible property taxes, insurance fees, legal costs associated with foreclosure, and management costs associated with owning the house before sale
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This notice is meant to comply with I.R.S. requirements. Any federal tax advice in this communication (including any attachments) is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, to avoid penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer under the Internal Revenue Code or to promote, market or recommend to another party any tax-related matter.
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