What are some of the significant issues when a self directed IRA invests in real estate through a down payment and leveraging?
• You cannot personally guarantee a loan for your IRA; • It may be difficult to get a bank to allow an IRA to be the debtor without a personal guarantee. However, there are now some banks that specialize in loans to IRAs. Currently, the typical minimum IRA down payment for such loans is 30%, although the exact amount is up to the lender; • Your IRA will pay tax on UDFI (Unrelated Debt Financed Income), which is the income and/or capital gains attributable to the leveraged portion. (UDFI is taxed at the trust tax rate because an IRA is treated as a trust for this purpose.) As a consequence, although it is perfectly legal, it may not be desirable to have an IRA carry debt in a real estate investment transaction if there is any significant risk that the IRA will be unable to pay the mortgage payments.
