Misc IRA questions.

I got a call today from a client that is about to have his IRA buy a piece of land and lease the mineral rights. This is a hot area in some parts of the country. His first question was whether a lender would lend him funds for the purchase. I gave him the name of an IRA lender but informed him that it seemed unlikely since the lease payments on the mineral rights were not substantial unless the gas company actually chose to drill at some point and therefore the land was not income producing. Since and IRA loan is non-recourse, the lender would either have to see substantial assets in the IRA, or there would have to be an income producing property involved.

My clients next question was about when was the earliest that he could take distribution on a ROTH IRA. The answer is two fold. 1. The age of 59 ½ or before that if he is ”eligible.” Eligible (tax and penalty free) distributions of earnings must fulfill two requirements. First, the seasoning period of five years must have elapsed, and secondly a justification must exist such as retirement or disability. The simplest justification is reaching 59.5 years of age, at which point qualified withdrawals may be made in any amount on any schedule. Becoming disabled or being a "first time" home buyer can provide justification for limited qualified withdrawals. Finally, although he could take distributions from a Roth IRA under the substantially equal periodic payments (SEPP) rule without paying a 10% penalty, any interest earned in the IRA will be subject to tax at a substantial penalty.

Guidant?

I was speaking with a new prospect the other day, and he asked me if we were the same as Guidant Financial. That is a tough question, because I have never had a clear picture of what the company actually does? They are obviously one of the best internet marketing companies in the Self Directed IRA area. They are great self promoters, as well. But when I have spoken to people about Guidant’s services, what I am told is that they charged huge fees to set up LLC’s for their self directed IRAs, and then turned them over to a custodian to handle the administration of their IRA accounts. Guidant seems to be a successful marketing company for other custodians, and they get a big fee to set up the intital documents. If you read their site and their blog, they call themselves a “facilitator”. In their Blog they talk about how they lend money for small business. The truth is that I tell my prospects that if they are going to go to a competitor, they should compare fees and services. Guidant is an internet marketing company, and a very good one. But I don’t think they act as an IRA custodian or administrator.

Delaware Statutory Trust

I just read this article about DST’s. They are a new 1031 replacement property vehicle not too different from a TIC, except for one thing. The up front costs of acquisition are much lower. I pulled a few paragraphs from the article below. It was published in the New England Real Estate Investor.

“Financing problems have plagued commercial real estate since 2008. But problems for existing real estate owners have brought the best buying opportunities of our lifetimes. Institutional real estate owners have been forced to liquidate some of their real estate portfolio at bargain-basement prices in order to raise money to refinance expiring debt. More debt is coming due over the next two years that has to be paid off - creating more buying opportunities for cash-rich purchasers. A number of institutional real estate offerings are now available. They have long-term NNN leases and are large enough to attract institutional investors. Economies of scale enable a $20 million property to be a better value than a $2 million property. How can someone with only $1 million afford to invest in such high-quality real estate? The solution is called a Delaware Statutory Trust (DST).

Institutional-grade real estate offers the best prospects to investors, as it provides income as well as excellent capital gain potential. Investors can join forces to purchase Institutional-quality real estate today at bargain prices through a DST, which have been eligible for 1031 exchanges since 2004. In a 1031 exchange, the investor sells investment real estate but pays no immediate taxes on the sale. The basis and gain are 'exchanged' into a new property. DSTs are private placements and only eligible to accredited investors (those with a net-worth over $1 million not counting their principal residence according to a provision of the new 2010 financial reform bill).

Several property types are available as DSTs - although retail and multi-tenant (apartments) seem to be the best value today. Apartment buildings in growing areas which are located near major highways and shopping areas are among the safest investments today. These types of institutional multi-family properties pay investors about a 6% cash flow. Financing is readily available for multi-family offerings on the institutional level. Financing for other property types, however, is more difficult today. Thus retail DSTs pay from 7-8%, but most are cash deals and may not be appropriate for your 1031 exchange if your replaced property contained a lot of debt.

DSTs are a big improvement for investors than Tenant-In-Common vehicles, which have a huge load upfront as the sponsoring company can't make a profit on the back end due to 1031 regulations. DSTs, however, allow investors to "invest with the sponsor" - aligning the interests of the DST sponsor and their investors. DST sponsors indeed make money with the investors on the ultimate sale in 3-7 years (depending on the offering and market conditions). Since the real estate is being acquired at today's low rates - not only do they offer solid income, but investors enjoy excellent growth potential as well.”

Dockominium

A prospective client called yesterday and wanted to know if they could invest IRA
funds in a “dockominium”. Not being exactly sure what that was, I proceeded to let the prospect educate me about Seaview Marina, in Ocean City, NJ. At Seaview, the marina slips are sold in the same fashion as a condominium operates in the state. There is an association, and dues, and there is a deed to the slip. Slips run from $90,000 to as much as $200,000.00 depending on the size and depth of the slip. Many of these dockominiums are rented for the season at very nice rental amounts. My response was that it was indeed a viable investment for the client as long as he did not store his own boat there and collected rent to the user of the slip. It actually makes a great IRA investment since the Dock Association maintains all the slips and the IRA would just simply pay a monthly maintenance fee. The only issue, of course, is making sure that there is sufficient cash flow from the rental to pay the Association fee.

Incidentally, the client believed the return on these slips was about 7%, and that they have appreciated nicely in good real estate markets. He thinks he is getting it at a very low price.