@Doug Spence "no one ever makes any money anyway" - guy who let his brother in law put him into an annuity that made 2% YoY"I don't do it because I heard tenants tear up your house" - guy stockpiling for the apocalypse"You're like a transient that never lives in a house for long.

The DST Trained and Approved Trustee may invest in REIT’s, bonds, annuities, securities or other “prudent investments” that are suitable to help assure the Trustee’s performance in repaying the Seller/Taxpayer pursuant to the held installment sales note.

Meanwhile, I just closed a refinance for someone that purchased the place using seller financing, and that old seller/lender didn't want out of what was for them an annuity / retirement plan paying a steady 7%!

Cash flowing and 20% up in equity.Reit and Other 1) Fundrise: Around 50k invested in equity and debt investment funds2) Variable Annuity: 25k in vanguard reit index

Following is some information regarding the self-directed IRA and the Solo 401k which can both be invested into real estate.The Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m); andThe Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (self-directed IRA LLC) must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2015; the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

I referred her to a New York Like insurance agent and the agent sold her an annuity.

I have a full time job and don't really want to self manage so any real estate would need to be fully managed and I'd basically just be collecting an annuity, if you will. 

That's a nice little annuity from a $50,000 downpayment and some sweat equity.Now, say one of your tenants wants to buy your house.

Rollover to IRA, Annuity, or hopefully investment prop...dont want to pay that extra tax though, for sure.

If it is free and clear, you look at at an Installment Sale.You want to stress to the seller the advantage of a private first mortgage over being a landlord.IRS Linkshttp://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc701.htmlhttp://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/0931001.pdfhttp://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p537.pdfhttp://www.irs.gov/publications/p523/ar02.htmlWhat I do:Offer more than comps for sales priceStructure the note payment so I can get a good cash flow.Everything is negotiable.The payment can survive the death of the owner-seller in a trust for a charity or family members upon death.I use the term "annuity payment"."