Using inherited IRA to invest in property

[Julia Taylor]

My husband inherited an IRA from his mother in October 2019. It's currently worth $175K. We want to use the money to invest in real estate. He is 51, and from what we understand from the advisor, we have to take out all the money by the end of 2024 (I believe this has something to do with the date her original account was set to expire, but I'm not positive - she would be 83 today if she was living).

After an initial search on the forums and a Google search, I'm thinking we don't want to go the SDIRA route because of all the rules and restrictions. Plus we are looking for something to cash flow now, and we probably want to buy something worth more than $175K. 

As a side note, we have about $900K of equity in our primary home which is in a very popular CO ski town (we are already short terming it when we travel). Not sure how that might play into this whole equation; that's something else I plan to research asap.

I'm looking for out of the box strategies to use this IRA and pay the minimum amount of taxes so we have the maximum amount to play with for our investment. Has anyone done anything creative with an inherited IRA? That most relevant forum post I could find was from 8 years ago and the OP was in his 20s. Thank you!!

[Greg Kasmer]

Julia - If you're looking to invest in a property as your primary focus/goal you'll need to get the funds into a property vehicle to do that investing. From my experience if you have an IRA you are restricted to the investment opportunities where you currently have the IRA (i.e. Fidelity, Vanguard, etc...) so the closest you can get to property would be a REIT. The most direct way would be to direct it to a SDIRA and then use those funds to invest in a property. However, it can not be a property you or a direct relative own or have a large ownership stake. Ideally, it's a property your invested in as a Limited Partner (LP). I've personally done this a few times and have written a quick "user guide" on how to do it to make it easier. However, my other suggestion is that if you have a LOT of equity in your primary home I would consider a HELOC or a cash out refinance in your primary residence in order to invest. I refinanced my primary residence last year and took a HELOC this year.

If you want to talk further, please message me and we'll connect. Sounds like you have some good opportunities to think about!