American IRA, LLC thanks Holly Calabro from the TREIA Publicity Committee for writing that great article about our recent self-directed IRA real estate seminar. Holly’s enthusiasm is contagious as she talks about the wealth of investment possibilities available when people self-direct their IRAs allowing them to invest in trust deeds and mortgage notes, rental property, condos, raw land, lease options, gold and silver, joint ventures, promissory notes, LLC shares, and tax liens.

Jim Hitt, American IRA CEO, exclaims “I was elated to read Holly’s article and to see her enthusiasm coming through the page! Our goal is to educate people so that they can maximize their investment profits through self-directed IRA investing, and we know we have done our job when we see someone come out of our seminar as excited about the process as Holly is! Thank you, Holly! You wrote a great article and we are glad that you are excited about self-directed IRA real estate investing!”

Holly explains the process brilliantly in her article and she is generating interest as we are seeing blog posts with questions and comments on her article. One question she received is “In the above Holly states, ‘you and your IRA are separate entities. The assets owned by the IRA must be handled as passively as possible. For example, if your IRA owns property, you cannot provide any labor for that residence, act as a realtor, or be a property manager.’

“However, later on we see in David’s example, ‘No earned income to qualify for an IRA? Make yourself the property manager for your own properties, collect a small income, and qualify.’

“Is this permitted or not?

“Also, where can I find more info on tax liens in NC? As I understand it, purchasing a tax lien does not transfer ownership in any way?”

This is an excellent question that often comes up. The distinction here is a property that is owned by an IRA and a property that is owned directly by an individual. It is true that a property owned inside an IRA belongs to the IRA and the IRA account holder cannot provide any labor for that residence, act as a realtor, or be a property manager.

When she goes on to say “No earned income to qualify for an IRA? Make yourself the property manager for your own properties, collect a small income, and qualify.”, she is calling out a distinction here. In this case, she is saying that the individual purchases a property on their own with non-IRA funds because they do not have an IRA established. She is then suggesting that that individual take the money they earn and contribute it to an IRA so that they can use that IRA to purchase future properties.

For those that missed this seminar…the entire event was professionally video taped and will be available by year end through the American IRA website at a great price. Of course, American IRA clients always receive educational materials at discounted rates, so if anyone is thinking about opening an account, this is a great time to get started.