I'm with Dan Dietz, but agree with the others as well. I bought a beat-up condo really cheap for all cash that I had in my IRA (and fixed it up). I look at it as a long term bond, paying me regular income into my IRA that I can take or leave if I want to.
Yes, I know I can't take all the deductions that I could have if I owned it outside of my IRA, but at the time, I didn't want to pay the penalties and huge taxes to take the money out and I didn't want the aggravation of a lender looking over my shoulder and demanding that I hire certain contractors to do the repair/remodel work.
Yes, I pay management fees and have little to do with who is in the unit. I did receive an email recently asking if they could allow a dog, so I have a tiny bit of control. ha ha
When I sell, just like a bond, I'll have received substantial income, income, income and hopefully a profit over and above my purchase price. And the income and profit is sheltered in my IRA until I decide to take it out or do something else with it.
No, I don't want everything I own to be in an IRA, but this one is doing exactly what I wanted it to do and that is making me income and someone else has the headache of managing.
