A CPA couple who invest in real estate on the side shares the investment mistake that cost them about six-figures worth of 401(k) money

• CPAS Amanda Han and Matthew Macfarland lost about $ 50,000 in a failed real estate agreement.

• They invested in a real estate syndication without appropriate care.

• They did not deter him from these agreements that could create passive income, but they approach them differently.

CPAS Amanda Han and Matthew Macfarland have worked with real estate investors for years to save taxes.

However, because accountants have learned the hard way, working with investors and actually investing is very different.

California -based couple It created an impressive real estate portfolio This includes renting and syndication agreements as well as EBM daily work. However, at the beginning of real estate investment careers, a mistake cost them a pension of approximately $ 100,000.

In 2008, Macfarland explained the unsuccessful agreement.

“We were very widespread in the industry of people who spoke about the IRAs and using your retirement accounts, and therefore we used our pension accounts to invest in a unionized real estate agreement.” “Looking at the past, the timing was terrible.”

It wasn’t just bad timing. Han and Macfarland Avoidance A Critical Step: Status Detection.

Real Estate Union is a way for a group of investors to bring their capital together and buy a single property managed by a “syndicator”. Once the investor contributes to the capital, his roles in the agreement become completely passive because the syndicator is responsible for finding, conducting the transaction and ultimately providing return to investors.

The disposal of these agreements is perfect for investors with more money than time, but you have a lot of confidence depending on the union and their competence. You invest in both the agreement and the person who runs it. And a good syndicator can turn a mediocre property into success, while a bad property can ruin a great opportunity – or in the case of Han and Macfarland, retirement can evacuate your savings.

Macfarland met the unionist through a colleague and said, “We believed you know what he was doing.” When we looked back, they would spend more time in the veterinary process.

An easy first step in the veterinarians of trade unionists is to write the first and surname to Google with keywords such as “fraud”, “complaints” or “sec”. You can also talk to investors working with them in the past and ask their experiences.