Yes, Your IRA Can Invest in Real Estate
Many investors are surprised to learn that retirement accounts—like IRAs—can hold real estate. In fact, real estate is one of the most popular asset classes in self-directed IRAs. These accounts can be used to buy rental properties, finance fix-and-flip projects, invest in private real estate funds, hold mortgage notes, or participate in syndications and partnerships.
Your IRA isn’t limited to just stocks and bonds. It can directly own single-family homes, invest in LLCs that hold real estate, lend capital secured by property, or participate in joint ventures. Real estate options, contracts, and private REITs are also allowed.
Despite being legal for decades, real estate in IRAs is still underutilized. With over $15 trillion sitting in retirement accounts nationwide, most of it is concentrated in traditional investments like mutual funds and ETFs—mainly because large financial institutions don’t support alternatives like real estate. These firms often deem such assets too complex to administer and restrict clients to the products they sell.
That’s why many investors haven’t heard of using an IRA to buy real estate—it’s not in the interest of big brokerages to promote it. But for those familiar with the real estate space, using a self-directed IRA opens the door to tax-advantaged growth through assets they know and trust.