Real Estate in your IRA

[megacorp-firee]

I saw an ad (don't know who, and I tossed the newspaper) about buying and holding real estate within your IRA. Does anyone know if this is advisable and easy to do? It sounds too good to be true.
Thanks.

[retire@40]

You can do it and it may work very well in some cases, but generally, it's not advisable. If you are going to do it, make sure you know all the pros and cons of what you are getting into.

This topic has been discussed here a while ago, so if you do a search you will find some of those pros and cons.

[tryan]

yeah, also heard you can own real estate in 401ks to; but managing the expenses and profits can make it a real head-ache.

[megacorp-firee]

I found an earlier post on this. Thanks. I thought I could have purchased a house to live in and fund it via IRA. Now I know that is NOT allowed.

... shoulda known that if there is a benefit to us versus govt. and their taxes, we will not be allowed to do so.

[CourtneyC]

Residential isn't slated to recover until 2009 according to analysts after Moody's posted its last report on homebuilding. Just a consideration. In my opinion, there are still some deals in commercial, but they are few and far between in the states because of the high amount of capital out there chasing deals. Look into REITS and other funds that invest abroad. Canada has been hot for the past year or so. I'm sure there are some developing market plays as well out there where you could make a killing.