It used to be that the stock market was the only game in town for 401-k’s, IRA’s, and Roth Plans.

Now, with the Direct Checkbook Controlled IRA you can move in and out of investments with ease, including my favorite: real estate.   This is huge.  It permits investors to play a far more direct and active role in their financial destiny.  You need to use specialists to set up the account and to recieve some background on the requirements, rights and risks.   When you’re playing pennies and nickles poker and the jackpot hits $5, it’s OK to play fast and loose.  When its your retirement at stake, lower your risks and always go with the pros. 

Enter IRA Advantage

IRA Advantage, is the new sister company of the highly regarded 1031 Exchange Accomodator, Equity Advantage.  IRA-A  sets up accounts that help investors reach their goals through direct checkbook control investment IRA’s.  Investments are made through an LLC.  I’ll describe the process in greater depth in a post next week.  If you can’t wait…call IRA Advantage now:  503.619.0223, and say the folks at Rose City Commercial Real Estate sent you!

Let Rick Bean and Rose City Commercial Real Estate be your advantage.  Contact us at 503.577.1034 or rick@rosecitycre.com.

Note:  This site is primarily dedicated to commercial real estate, with a focus on the multifamily component.  We believe that good service should be standard, but great services and products need to be acknowledged.  We reserve the right to promote unaffiliated individuals and companies that in our opinion, demonstrate excellence on an ongoing basis.  We neither solicit nor accept compensation for doing this.

The two times when profitablity managing a property is important are when you want to keep, it and when you want to sell it.  Property managers need training to perform at their best.  This opportunity for FREE training should not be missed.  Grace Hill Property Management Training does a great job…here’s a no cost way to give them a try:
Dealing with Difficult People
PRESENTED BY: Jackie Ramstedt, Deb Bronson & Terri Norvell
COST: Spherexx.com is sponsoring this event…there will be no cost to you. Thanks Spherexx.com!

DATE/TIME: Friday, May15, 2009 – 1pm PT

SESSION DESCRIPTION: Can you remember the last time you had to deal with difficult people or an event where someone was negative?  Never fear!  Our positive panelists will chat about what you can do in the future to get through these tough situations with harmony and grace.

RSVP: Visit Gracehill Taining at: www.gracehill.com and look for the details of this event on their home page. Click the RSVP link to sign up and receive Chat Event Instructions.  Then, log into Grace Hill about 10 minutes prior to the event and click on the Chat Room link, under the chat description, to be delivered to their Chat Room. 

* Please note that space is limited to 350 attendees in our chat room.  Be sure to log-in to the chat room 10 – 15 minutes prior to the event.  
 

What else is free?  Call contact me at 503.577.1034 or rick@rosecitycre.com for an equity redeployment assessment.

Beautiful, Affordable Portland

One of the metrics to look at when picking an area for a long term investment is the affordability index.  And by that I don’t mean looking soley at how much the median income is in an area…I mean:

Average Rent/Median Household Income = Affordability Index.  (What portion of your pay goes to rent?)

It’s great that some investment counselors track Median Household Income (MHI), but without the context of average rent for that area we really don’t have a way to evaluate areas that have long-term rent expansion capability.  An obvious example is New York City.  Clearly the MHI is higher there, but so are average rents.  New York has an affordabilty Index of 57.2%.  That means that between half and two thirds of the household income goes for rent.  I suggest that while NYC has posted impressive rent gains for all property types, that the pace of those increase is likely to wane…how much more than 57% of your income could you afford to pay for rent?   Years ago I had an employee that considered himself to be a real tout, a master horse race handicapper.  Mark would always tell me:  “Rick, there are horses that run fast, and horses that run long…but aint no horse that runs fast and long.”

Highly Ranked Portland

With Average Rents at $825 and Median Household Incomes at $57,757, Portland’s Affordability Index is 16.8%.  That’s fifth in the nation.  Portland-Beaverton-Vancouver “Asking Rents” jumped an average of of 3.1% in the fourth quarter of last year compared to a year earlier.   Full disclosure:  Oklahoma City had the nations best ratio at 12.3%…but the catch is that if you move there …every morning you wake up in Oklahoma.

With room for long term rents to expand and a great area to live in, isn’t this a great time to invest in Portland area multifamily properties?