I’m asked several times weekly now about what happens after your self-directed plan has acquired real estate investment property(s). Specifically they wanna know about control — as in who’s sittin’ in the Captain’s Chair. Fair question. From where I sit it’s all about your comfort zone. What most folks don’t realize is that regardless of whether or not you have a ‘formal’ custodian or not, you’re the one liable when the smelly substance hits the whirling steel blades.

There are a couple ways for you to go with this, and they’re both pretty straightforward, which is how we like it, right?

One we’ll call middle of the road, traditional, vanilla, conservative, and all the other clichés. This approach is what Pensco Trust offers. You funnel pretty much whatever you decide to do through them. When you want something done, they’ll go over it with you, answer your questions, and get you the forms you’ll need. They issue the checks as you request them. Sometimes there are fees, sometimes not.

The other way is to assume control for the portion of your self-directed plan owning the real estate. Won’t go through the nuts ‘n bolts now, it’s fairly simple though, so not to worry. The key point, is that for those who wish to be able to act without an extra layer or three between your decision to do something and the actual task being executed, ‘checkbook control’ may be for you.

Beginning the week of March 22nd, a new contributor will make their debut. In effect, we’ll be offering you the ability to opt for more or less control of your plan’s real estate purchases — and especially their ongoing operation. Both ways work well — this isn’t a good vs better thing. It’s about preference. You can ‘go to the guy’ and have your oil changed — or you can buy the oil & filter and change it yourself.

The oil gets changed both ways with the same oil, same filter. Again — preference — comfort zone. We’ll be talkin’ about this later.

Gimme a call — I need a fix. 619 889-7100. Have a good one.