Use Your IRA to Buy Real Estate
Stop watching your retirement sit in stocks while you do every deal with after-tax money. With a Real Estate IRA LLC, you can write the closing check straight from your retirement account — and keep every dollar of rent compounding tax-deferred.
- Buy rentals, flips, notes & tax liens —
all inside an IRS-compliant LLC - Write checks at closing —
no waiting on custodian approvals - Keep the SDIRA custodian you already trust — we work with all of them
What Is a Real Estate IRA?
A Real Estate IRA is a special type of retirement account that allows you to use your IRA and 401(k) dollars to invest in physical real estate. We've been helping folks set up Real Estate IRAs for over a decade, allowing clients to deploy retirement capital into rentals, mortgage notes, and tax liens. We're custodian-agnostic, flat-fee, and we've structured hundreds of IRA-owned LLCs that close on real estate deals the same way you'd close any other LLC purchase — fast, clean, and on your timeline.
Custodian-Agnostic by Design
Already have a Self-Directed IRA elsewhere? Keep it. We add the Real Estate IRA LLC layer on top — no switching, no rollover gymnastics. Don't have one yet? We'll help you pick the custodian with the cleanest fee structure for real estate transactions.
Why real estate investors use a Checkbook IRA LLC
Three reasons the smartest real estate investors stop leaving their retirement on the sidelines.
Tax-Sheltered Rental Income
Every dollar of rent flows back into your IRA LLC and compounds tax-deferred (Traditional) or tax-free (Roth). Skip the K-1 headaches and the year-end tax drag.
Close on Your Timeline
Write checks and wire earnest money straight from your IRA LLC's bank account. No "can you ask the custodian?" delays when a deal is on the line.
Diversify Out of the Stock Market
Concrete, cash-flowing assets you actually understand — and that don't drop 30% the next time the market sneezes. Hard assets in your retirement portfolio.
How a Real Estate IRA LLC Actually Works
Your Self-Directed IRA owns an LLC. The LLC owns the real estate. You manage the LLC — meaning you pick the deal, sign the contract, and write the closing check, all from the LLC's bank account.
Where Your Retirement Capital Goes — Step by Step
From your existing 401(k) or IRA to a property owned by your retirement account. Every step is tax-deferred or tax-free. Every dollar stays inside the IRA umbrella.
Tax-Free Rollover
Move funds from your current IRA or 401(k) into a Self-Directed IRA via direct rollover or trustee-to-trustee transfer. No tax. No 10% penalty. No reporting event.
SDIRA Owns the LLC
Your SDIRA purchases 100% of the membership units of a new LLC. The LLC opens a business checking account. You're the manager — checkbook control begins.
LLC Buys the Property
Wire funds or write a check from the LLC account directly to escrow. Title vests in the LLC's name. Property is owned by the LLC, which is owned by your IRA.
Rent payments flow into the LLC. Repairs and property taxes get paid out of the LLC. When you sell, proceeds land back in the LLC and stay tax-advantaged inside the IRA structure. No personal commingling. Ever.
Real estate investors call it the three R's:
- RENTALS: Buy and hold residential or commercial property — net rents compound tax-advantaged.
- REFIS: Pull capital out of one IRA-owned property (via non-recourse loan) to fund the next deal.
- RESALES: Sell, redeploy proceeds inside the LLC, and never trigger a taxable event.
Whether you're new or already self-directing, we meet you there.
Most of our real estate clients fall into one of these two camps. Pick the one that matches you.
You've Got Retirement Money. Let's Put It to Work.
Maybe your retirement is sitting at Fidelity or Vanguard in funds, while you've been doing real estate deals on the side with after-tax cash. Time to bridge the two.
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Free ConsultationTell Ted what you're investing in (or want to). He'll recommend the SDIRA custodian with the cleanest fee structure for real estate.
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Open Your SDIRA & Roll Funds OverWe walk you through opening the SDIRA and moving funds via direct rollover or transfer — no taxable event.
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Build Your IRA LLCWe form the LLC, draft the IRS-compliant operating agreement, secure the EIN, and prep the bank-ready package.
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Open the LLC's Checking AccountOpen a business checking account in the LLC's name. Direct your custodian to fund it from your SDIRA.
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Close Your First DealWrite the check, sign the closing docs as LLC manager, and put the property under your IRA's ownership.
Keep Your Custodian — Add the LLC Layer.
You've already got an SDIRA at Equity Trust, Kingdom Trust, STRATA, Madison, or another major custodian. Tired of the custodian-approval bottleneck on every deal? We add Checkbook control on top.
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Free Compatibility ReviewWe confirm your custodian supports IRA-owned LLCs (most do) and map the structure for your specific real estate strategy.
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Build Your IRA LLCLLC formation, operating agreement, EIN, custodian-acceptance documentation — handled.
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Direct Your Custodian to Fund the LLCSingle one-time directive from you to the custodian wires SDIRA funds into the new LLC checking account.
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Close Without the BottleneckYour next deal closes from the LLC's account — no custodian approval letter, no transaction fee, no delay.
Two Ways to Get Started — Pick What Fits
If you've got a deal you're trying to close with retirement capital, book a 30-minute call with Ted directly. If you're still in research mode, drop into the free real-estate-IRA education series.
The Real Estate Strategies Investors Run Inside an IRA LLC
Every one of these is something we've helped real-life clients deploy through a Checkbook IRA LLC.
Buy & Hold Rentals
Single-family, small multi-family, or commercial. Rents flow tax-advantaged. The most common play and the best fit for the structure.
Learn More →
Fix & Flip
Yes, your IRA can flip — but high-volume flipping triggers Unrelated Business Income Tax. We'll show you how to structure it, or pivot to a buy-fix-rent model.
Learn More →
Mortgage Notes & Private Lending
Lend your IRA's capital to other investors or buy seasoned performing notes. Interest payments flow back to the IRA LLC tax-advantaged. No tenants, no toilets.
Learn More →
Tax Liens & Raw Land
Tax-lien certificates, redemption-deed states, and undeveloped land plays. Capital-efficient strategies that fit elegantly inside an IRA structure.
Learn More →Real Estate IRA Pitfalls Every Investor Should Know Before Closing
These are the four areas where investors lose IRAs to disqualification. We make sure you don't.
You Cannot Buy From, Sell To, or Live in Property Your IRA Owns
The IRS classifies you, your spouse, your parents, your children, and any business you control as disqualified. Your IRA cannot transact with any of them. You cannot vacation in an IRA-owned rental — not even one night.
Violating this rule disqualifies the entire IRA. We'll walk you through every "what if" before you close.
Sweat Equity Is Off-Limits
You can manage the LLC — sign leases, hire contractors, pick paint colors. You cannot provide labor that benefits the IRA. Swinging your own hammer to renovate an IRA-owned property is a prohibited transaction.
Hire third-party contractors. Pay them from the LLC's account. Stay clean.
Leverage and Active Business Trigger Tax — Even Inside an IRA
UDFI (Unrelated Debt-Financed Income) applies when your IRA uses a non-recourse mortgage — a portion of income/gain attributable to debt is taxable. UBIT (Unrelated Business Income Tax) applies when the IRA runs an active business — frequent flipping is the classic trap.
Both are manageable. But you have to know they exist before you close, not after.
Your IRA Cannot Co-Sign
If your IRA borrows to buy property, the loan must be non-recourse: the lender can take the property back, but cannot pursue you, your IRA, or any other asset. Standard residential mortgages don't qualify.
A handful of specialized lenders write IRA-friendly non-recourse paper. We'll point you to the ones our clients have had clean experiences with.
Why Real Estate IRA?
Other providers want to lock you into a custodian. We don't, because we don't own one.
You Talk to Ted, Not a Call Center
Real estate transactions don't fit a call-script template. Ted personally walks every client through their first deal — over a decade of doing exactly this for real estate investors.
Custodian Freedom — Zero Conflict of Interest
We don't own an SDIRA custodian, so we have no incentive to push you toward one. We'll recommend the cleanest fit for real estate transactions and let you keep ownership of that decision.
Flat Fees That Don't Scale With Your Portfolio
One-time setup fee. Low annual IRA fee. No asset-based charges, no per-property fees, no surprise transaction costs. Your fees are the same whether your IRA owns one rental or twenty.
A Decade-Plus With Real Estate Investors
Ted has spent over a decade working specifically with real estate investors who wanted their retirement capital to do the same thing their personal capital does — close deals, generate cash flow, compound. Real estate has consistently been the largest segment of the clients we serve, and Ted has personally walked hundreds of investors through their first IRA-funded closing.
- 10+ years in the Self-Directed IRA industry
- 350+ Checkbook IRA LLCs established for clients nationwide
- 100+ five-star Google reviews from verified clients
- Licensed California Real Estate Salesperson — direct experience on the real-estate side of the transactions our clients run inside their IRA LLCs
- Licensed California Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) — fluent in the financing mechanics behind real-estate-funded retirement deals
"Real estate is the asset class our clients keep coming back to. They understand it, they trust it, and once they realize their IRA can hold it, they don't go back to mutual funds. My job is to make sure the structure is bulletproof so they can focus on the deals."
Not Ready to Book a Call? Learn It at Your Own Pace.
I recorded a short video series walking through exactly how the Real Estate IRA LLC works — the structure, the rules, the pitfalls, and three real client deal walk-throughs. You'll get one lesson at a time by email and text.
No pitch. No pressure. The same rundown I'd give you if we sat down for coffee, except you can watch it in pajamas.
- A new short video in your inbox every few days — watch on your schedule
- Optional SMS reminders so you don't miss a lesson (opt out anytime)
- Covers the LLC structure, the IRS landmines, and three real deal case studies
- Recorded by Ted personally — the same person you'd talk to on a call
What Real Estate Investors Say About Us
Real clients. Real deals.
I cannot speak highly enough about Ted Erickson and MyDirect IRA. We decided very quickly to purchase land using our retirement money — which meant setting up a Self-Directed IRA, creating an LLC, opening the corresponding bank account, funding the IRA, transferring the money… you get the picture. Ted walked me through all of this clearly and kindly (which is huge!!), set up our LLC and created all the corresponding paperwork, and connected me to some great people at uDirect who he has worked with previously. The entire experience with Ted has been great — and he continues to be available if any additional questions come up. Thank you for all your help and guidance, Ted!
Working with MyDirect IRA to accomplish my investing goals was a great experience. I had an idea of what I wanted to invest in, and Ted at MyDirect IRA worked with me to make it happen. He listened to my questions and concerns and walked me through the process to make it a frictionless process. I'm very appreciative of the stellar customer service, quality and punctuality of the work MyDirect IRA provided on my behalf. I would highly recommend to anyone looking for self-directed IRA services.
My experience setting up a Checkbook IRA with MyDirect IRA was truly excellent, and I would give them a full five-star rating without hesitation. The process can be intimidatingly complex, but working with Ted made everything incredibly smooth; he was consistently responsive and provided the expert guidance I needed to feel confident in my setup. I am very glad I chose their service, as they managed the technical hurdles efficiently and made the entire transition into a self-directed structure a positive one.
Got a Deal in Mind? Let's Make Sure Your IRA Can Close It.
Whether you're researching your first IRA-funded purchase or you've already got a property under contract and are racing the clock, Ted will walk through your specific situation. Honest answers, no pressure, and a clear "yes/no/here's-what-needs-to-happen-first" by the end of the call.
- 30-minute free consultation with Ted directly
- We map your specific real estate strategy to the right structure
- Transparent flat fees — know what you'll pay before you sign
- Custodian-agnostic — keep yours or we'll recommend one
Already know what you want and ready to move? Start your IRA LLC application online →
Request Your Free Consultation
Prefer to pick a time yourself? Use the online calendar →
Frequently Asked Questions About Real Estate IRAs
Quick answers to the questions real estate investors ask us most. Still have more? Book a call.