In our final blog on self-direction, we’re going to cover taxation your retirement account might be subject to. Many people are surprised to hear that if they self-direct the account in real estate that it will have to pay a tax. But it’s true! This is because the types of investments your account makes with a broker (stocks and bond, etc.) would not have to ever pay taxes on the income. But in real estate, you can make money in other ways that ARE taxed.

And if you are subject to this tax, then your retirement account must pay that tax in the year, or years, that it incurs the tax. And this means, the account itself, NOT YOU, pays the tax. And if don’t have enough funds in the account (because it’s invested elsewhere), you may have trouble paying it.

There are two types of taxes that you might face. For simplicity we’ll just call them the “business tax” and the “leverage tax.” Both are really part of what is called the unrelated business income tax (UBIT).

The business tax applies to any business your retirement account engages in. Remember that if you invest in stocks, your IRA is not “engaged” in the business; it just “owns” part of a business. If you want to do flips with your IRA and if it’s “regularly and consistently” engaged in doi
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Previously, we discussed retirement accounts in general and how to turn them into self-directed accounts. Once you’ve gone that far, you’re ready to invest. You can use those funds in the exact same way you’d use your personal cash to do any deal. There really is no limit to the kinds of investments you can make. However, “how” you make those investments IS a big deal and can get you into trouble.

NOTE: Self-direction is an advanced real estate investing technique with a lot of nuances. This blog is meant as general information and not legal, tax or investing advice. You will certainly need more education and advice to truly understand this amazing technique.

If you do what is called a “prohibited transaction” you could face the possibility of incurring penalties, which for an IRA could be add up to the entire amount of your IRA. So this is a very important topic. And not one that can fully be explained in a short blog. This is meant to bring your attention to the issue. I always recommend seeking legal counsel if you are unsure about a certain investment.

At it’s core, the IRS does not want you to unlawfully make a contribution to or take a di
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This is Part 2 of our 4-part series on self-direction. In our previous blog we covered retirement accounts generally. Here, we’ll cover how to make them self-directed.

NOTE: Self-direction is an advanced real estate investing technique with a lot of nuances. This blog is meant as general information and not legal, tax or investing advice. You will certainly need more education and advice to truly understand this amazing technique.

First, if you self-direct (we’ll call it “SD” from here on) an IRA, that account MUST sit at (be deposited with) an IRS-approved SD custodian. There is no way around this. So, your first step is to set up an account at a SD custodian. This is pretty easy, or even done online. You then either make a contribution and/or move (rollover) your current IRA money. Then, your IRA money is in place that will allow you to invest it in real estate immediately by “directing” the SD custodian to make an investment in your IRA’s name. This is usually a form to fill out, submit to the custodian that will then facilitate the transaction. SD custodians typically charge a yearly fee and transaction fees for each deal. You can lower these fees with a
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This blog begins a 4-part series on the real estate investing technique of self-direction, which creates the ability to use retirement accounts for real estate investments. This first blog will cover retirement accounts generally.

NOTE: Self-direction is an advanced real estate investing technique with a lot of nuances. This blog is meant as general information and not legal, tax or investing advice. You will certainly need more education and advice to truly understand this amazing technique.

Self-direction is when a person uses their retirement account money in investments outside of typical brokerage investment products. It is often used by real estate investors looking to use their retirement money to invest in real estate, which is not offered by their broker. In other words, they have greater ability to “direct” their money into different investments. Self-direction, then, requires more work and education on the part of the investor.

Really, any kind of retirement account can be self-directed: IRAs, 401Ks, SEPs, SIMPLEs, 403(b)s and the like. Because most Americans have IRAs and 401Ks, those are the two that will be the focus of this blog. First, let’s talk Roth v. Traditional accounts.

The terms “Roth” and “Traditional” are applied to many types of retirement accounts. Both IRAs a
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In our last blog, we covered being a better landlord on your buy and holds. Here we’ll discuss a few tips to make working with contractors a little easier, whether on a flip or rental.

First, set a plan before starting, and stick to it! The plan should have a good, clear outline of how you want the project to finish. This includes materials and a budget. Many newer investors either don’t set a budget or blow past it. This is a recipe for disaster.

Second, contact your entire list of possible contractors and get bids. Many investors, to save time, may only talk to one contractor or sub. Take the time to really explain what you’re looking for, provide the plan & budget you’ve set, and get several bids. It’s worth your time.

Third, take the time to compare and contrast the different bids. Make sure you are comparing apples to apples. You’ll need to understand how and where the contractor is making money. Is there a line-item fee? Is the contractor “padding” materials or labor? Does the contractor include labor & materials in one line-item? You may need to go back and get more specific information from the contractor. Take the time to do this.

Fourth, ask and learn how the contractor handles changes, whether those come from you or them. This seems to be one of the bigges
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This blog is going to cover some tips to make being a landlord a great experience. Owning rental properties means dealing with tenants. Many investors either don’t like or don’t want to deal with tenant and property issues, so they will hire a professional property management company. But if you decide to self-manage, here are some things you should understand.

First, remember asset protection. Title to your rental should be held in a well-designed, protective LLC. Not all LLCs are created the same! What you get online is not sufficient. It should be created by a competent asset protection attorney. This will protect you and your personal assets from tenant slip-and-fall lawsuits.

Second, have really good lease agreements. There are numerous free forms available. So I would recommend getting at least 3 or 4 options and read through them. See what clauses are in them and which are important to you. If you need to amend or revise one, you should work with an attorney to draft it as you may accidently do something that might hurt you.

Third, make sure you have the appropriate liability insurance. This is the one you get from your insurance agent and not t
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The real estate purchase contract (REPC) is the basis of just about every deal you do. Yet, very few investors really understand it fully. This blog will teach you some key aspects of the REPC that can make a big difference in your next deal.

The REPC is a binding contract between a buyer and seller of real property. They are the only “parties” to the contract. Your agent, title officer, lender and etc. are not bound by this document. Only the parties may sue to enforce it or for breach of it.

You’ve heard that “everything” in real estate needs to be in writing. While there are other ways to buy and sell real estate without a written document, don’t rely on those! Always put it in writing!! This means not just the REPC, but all addenda. It does NOT matter what someone promises, only what is in writing AND signed.

In the event of lawsuit, texts and emails, in certain limited circumstances, can be evidence to substantiate your position. BUT DO NOT RELY ON THIS! If you want it to happen, put it in writing and get it signed! And a title company cannot go off texts or emails to change terms of the REPC. Don’t trust other agents or investors when they say, “Yeah, I’ll sign it and get it to you.” That is meaningless and you don’t have an agreement until it’s actually signed. They can be
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We’re going to finish up our discussion of short-term rentals with a real estate investing topic called arbitrage. What is arbitrage?

Arbitrage, basically, is the simultaneous buying and selling of an asset. For example, if you lease a property from the owner (the “buying” part) then turn around and lease the property to a tenant (the “selling” part), that’s arbitrage. You are simultaneously buying and selling an asset. The terms “buying” and “selling” have a more broad definition that actually purchasing and selling real estate. In our world, what I just described is commonly known as a lease sandwich.

Another term you might be familiar with is wholetailing. This is where you actually do buy a property (you become the owner) but immediately sell it. In fact, it’s common that the investor will put it under contract for sale before she buys it. This is also arbitrage.

So why are we talking arbitrage, lease sandwiches and wholetailing? Because that’s how many real estate investors are picking up both short- and long-term rentals, and other deals. In the long-term rental world, that’s a lease sandwich. But you can do the exact same thing for short-term rentals.

The process is mostly the same and doesn’t matter how long you’re renting out the property fo
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If you’ve been following along, we’ve discussed the regulatory side and an introduction to the tax side of doing short-term rentals. Today we will discuss how to hold title and save on the self-employment taxes we mentioned last month.

First, hopefully you now understand that the rent you make from short-term rentals is taxed differently as active income. That means it’s taxed more like your flip projects that you run through an s-elected LLC. (We’ve done other blogs on s-election and tax savings! Go back and review some of those if you don’t understand how the s-election saves on taxes on ordinary income.) While is it totally fine to own your flip in an s-elected LLC, it is NOT good to own a rental property in an s-elected LLC. This is because there is a “sale of asset” tax that can apply when you transfer or sell an asset you’ve held for a long time. You don’t want to pay this tax!

So, just like any other rental property, you should “own” the property in an LLC that is taxes as either a single member or partnership. And if available to you in your state, a Series LLC. This will be the same LLC that you own all your other rental properties in. So that’s good news! You will own your short-term rental the same way you own all your rentals.

But what about the tax savings on thi
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In the last blog, we talked about short-term rentals and the need to confirm the licensing and zoning issues that may apply. Here we are going to talk about the taxation of short-term rentals. What follows is a summary of some tax issues. This is NOT meant as tax advice. Please consult your own tax professionals.

Rented for Fewer than 15 Days During the Year – When a property is rented for fewer than 15 days during the tax year, the rental income is not reportable, and the expenses associated with that rental are not deductible. Interest and property taxes are not prorated, and the full amounts of the qualified mortgage interest and property taxes are reported as itemized deductions (as usual) on the taxpayer’s Schedule A. This would only apply if you rented out your residence or a vacation property on occasion.

The 7-Day and 30-Day Rules – Rentals are generally passive activities. However, an activity is not treated as a rental if either of these statements applies: