One of the best, most secure, most certain to grow investments you can make is real estate, but with an IRA, investing in real estate never seems to be an option offered. That’s not, however, because you’re not allowed to invest in real estate with your retirement cash; rather, it’s because most IRA funds don’t take advantage of a little-known IRS rule that allows for it.If you’re like most people holding IRA account, you have your funds invested with a bank or a brokerage. That means you’re limited to stocks, bonds, annuities, and other paper securities – not real property. In today’s market, that may mean your IRA funds are tanking, and it certainly means that they are not growing as robustly as they were five years ago. The real money to be made right now is in real estate.You can get into IRA real estate investing by looking for custodians that specialize in real estate IRAs, using the rules contained in Section 408 in the Internal Revenue Code. These special IRAs build a portfolio around all kinds of cash-generating and appreciating real estate: commercial, residential, rental, industrial.It is not legal to hold your own 408-based IRA; investing in real estate with your retirement funds must be done by special custodians. However, you have freedom in many ways to work with your IRA real estate. For one thing, your custodian holds your property, but doesn’t necessarily administer it, select properties to purchase, or even set and collect rents. These may all be your tasks, and they give you a great deal of leeway in how your own money gets invested.It’s easy to see that an IRA investing in real estate gets very complex. Do rents get re-invested in your IRA? Can you charge yourself for administering your own properties and make cash from your IRA in that manner? What kinds of property can you purchase to include in your real estate IRA? Is it possible to hold foreign real estate in your domestic IRA? A good custodian can tell you the specific rules governing your IRA; real estate investing through this route is more complicated than just doing it yourself but the tax advantages make it worth it.While if you work it properly you can benefit to a certain degree from IRA real estate investing beyond the simple IRA, you cannot put your own home into your IRA, nor can you lease space in one of your IRA properties for your own business. You also can’t put properties you or your immediate family already own into your IRA.IRA investing in real estate rules do allow you to purchase property in conjunction with others to put into your fund, and it allows you to include some leveraged property as well, provided your custodian allows for it. You can also sell properties while they are in your IRA, provided you don’t sell them to yourself or to a family member.One of the best ways to realize a great benefit from IRA investing in real estate is to hold a property that will become your retirement home in a Roth IRA. Upon maturity, you have the custodian distribute the property in-kind – assigning the title of the home directly to you. If you did this with a traditional IRA, you’d be liable for income tax based on the value of the property at the time of distribution; with a Roth, you owe nothing outside of costs associated with the transfer. There are few nicer gifts to give yourself to celebrate retirement.
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QLD Real Estate Agent License Course – Are You Prepared?
One of the industries that is making most of the global economic progress is real estate. It has become a very lucrative profession and to become a real estate agent in Queensland, you must possess a license. There are many criteria that must be fulfilled in order to be able to get the license. This includes that the candidate must be 18 years or over, be a suitable person (there are specifications for this), have at least one place of business in Queensland and should have completed the required training units through a registered training organisation.**For getting the QLD real estate license, training from a recognized organisation is essential. Not only will it help in obtaining the license but will also help in shaping a successful career in the real estate industry. There are a lot of organisations that provide training to get a real estate license and they offer courses through various modes of education (including correspondence). Training centres have specific time tables and candidates can pick and choose the classes they have to attend accordingly. They have an instructor who can help them. The classroom courses and correspondence courses have their own advantages and disadvantages as compared to each other; and one or the other might be more suitable for you depending on your constraints.The QLD Real Estate Agent License Course includes 19 units in general. To get the full license, all the chapters/units need to be completed. If you have worked for twelve months or more in a real estate agency as a letting agent, property manager or salesperson, you would have most likely completed six to eight units. You will be eligible for Recognition of Prior Learning in this case and you can consult with your workplace on what units you can be judged to be competent on. Formal education in real estate will also provide the necessary evidence to Prior Learning and you will not have to repeat units you have already learnt.If the candidates have possessed a similar real estate agent license two years before applying for this one, then they do not need to complete the training requirements.**To qualify for this licence you must complete these subjects from the industry-recognised Property Development and Management Training Package:1.PRDRE09A Implement and monitor financial systems
2.PRDRE10A Manage agency risk
3.PRDRE11A Provide property appraisal
4.PRDRE12A Establish and expand client base
5.PRDRE13A Obtain property listings
6.PRDRE14A Market property
7.PRDRE15A Undertake property sale by private treaty
8.PRDRE16A Monitor sales process
9.PRDRE18A Lease property
10.PRDRE19A Provide property management services
11.PRDRE22A Present and explain property reports
12.PRDRE26A Conduct property sale by auction
13.PRDRE28A Maintain trust account
14.PRDRE30A Implement personal marketing plan
15.PRDRE37A Perform and record property management activities and transactions
16.PRDRE39A Prepare and execute documentation
17.PRDPOD62A Clarify and confirm property information requirements.**Alternatively, you can complete these units from the Property Services Training Package endorsed by the National Quality Council:1.BSBSBM406A Manage finances
2.CPPDSM4003A Appraise property
3.CPPDSM4005A Establish and build client-agency relationships
4.CPPDSM4006A Establish and manage agency trust accounts
5.CPPDSM4007A Identify legal and ethical requirements of property management to complete agency work
6.CPPDSM4008A Identify legal and ethical requirements of property sales to complete agency work
7.CPPDSM4009A Interpret legislation to complete agency work
8.CPPDSM4010A Lease property
9.CPPDSM4011A List property for lease
10.CPPDSM4012A List property for sale
11.CPPDSM4013A Market property for lease
12.CPPDSM4014A Market property for sale
13.CPPDSM4015A Minimise agency and consumer risk
14.CPPDSM4016A Monitor and manage lease or tenancy agreement
15.CPPDSM4018A Prepare and present property reports
16.CPPDSM4019A Prepare for auction and complete sale
17.CPPDSM4022A Sell and finalise the sale of property by private treaty
18.CPPDSM4046A Manage tenancy disputes
19.CPPDSM4080A Work in the real estate industry.The QLD Real Estate Agent License Course would give the candidate the opportunity to own and manage a real estate agency, either on their own or with someone else. If real estate interests you and you have the burning desire to explore new opportunities in this field then getting a license will help the dream become reality.** The information has been provided in http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au