- After the shock of reading his 401-K statement subsided…this investor switched to an Equity Advantage self directed IRA!
It’s great to see the market trending upward again…well, at least for now. Though I am not prescient, I am lucky…so I pulled all of my 401-k funds out days before the plunge. A few months later and I would have seen over a third…and possibly half of my savings gone. Many of my dear friends were not so lucky. One is un-retiring. I know that many people rely on the stock market in general (and mutual funds specifically) to make long term gains. For my sensibilities…I’d rather own real estate than stock in a company that owns real estate.
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.
Thinking Green
Even though Apartment Managers have plenty on their plates, adding environmental awareness is good business. Kim Duty, Vice President of Communications for Multifamily Housing Report has a green tip for us:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has launched a multifamily version of its ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. The online energy performance tracking tool allows building owners and operators to measure and manage their buildings’ energy consumption.
A comparable tool has existed for the office sector for more than a decade, and the National Multi Housing Council has been urging EPA to release a multifamily-specific version for years. The tool will allow apartment owners to assess their portfolios’ energy performance, identify under-performing buildings, set investment priorities to make targeted energy efficiency improvements and earn recognition for achievements.
Using Portfolio Manager, apartment firms can enter building square footage and whole-community energy and water data, as well as optional building attributes, to benchmark performance.
To learn more about the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, visit NMHC’s Green Practices web site at www.nmhc.org/goto/5147. To learn more about National Multi Housing Council go to www.NMHC.org. They have a number of free industry related resources. And remember…green’s not just good for the environment…it’s good business.
If you’re ready to upgrade your investment performance, contact Rick M. Bean at: 503.577.1034 or: rick@rosecitycre.com.
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?
Portland, OR
Look at current and future job growth as key factors when evaluating a market for multifamily purchases. To research opportunities I have traveled to Reno, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Seattle, and Los Vegas. Without exception job creation/population growth seemed to be the common fundamentals that told the tale. It seems that folks would move to hell if they could get a job.
That’s why I’m so strong on Portland. We’ve seen good job growth on a consistent basis here for years and the promise of the future is for the pattern to continue or accelerate.
For those that are dour about the current multifamily market…remember that while Cap Rates are decompressing currently, there are many properties that were purchased at the average 8.3 Cap in 2002. They would now trade at a 6.50 Cap. Do the math: 8.3 divided by 6.5 equals a 28% increase in value even if NOI only stayed constant. The truth is that this market enjoyed significant increases over that period and many Portland multifamily investors have huge sums of redeployable equity, and this is the time to act.
Contact me for equity redeployment information now at: rick@rosecitycre.com
