10 Questions With - Ace Capital

Today's installment of "10 Questions With" offers an overview of land banking with Ace Capital. We love land banking in a retirement account since it is by nature a long-term appreciation building investment with very little maintenance. And this particular company is offering land banking in the Antelope Valley area of Los Angeles, which we feel is about to explode with clean energy development. Check out this segment from NBC news that outlines the vision of the Valley from the current political leaders.

I invite you to learn more about land banking with Ace Capital. Please take a read and let me know what you think.

1. Tell us a little about you and your company.
ACE Capital Group is a real estate company. We are not real estate brokers or financial advisors. We are the principals who purchase and sell carefully selected California pre-developed real estate.

2. Please tell me about your real estate opportunity.
Our programs and services are offered with the primary purpose of using land banking as an easy, secure and superior alternative for building sustainable wealth:

• We effectively use the strategy of long-term appreciation in land ownership by purchasing and selling property in the growth path of major metropolitan centers.
• We help qualified retirement account holders to roll over their funds from the volatile stock market into more predictable California real estate. Of course, we also work with cash. In addition, 1031 Exchanges are an ideal way to move money into a Land Banking strategy.

3. Where does your opportunity exist?
Ace Capital Group has perfected the formula for making sure the land we purchase in indeed in the path of growth and will be in a position to appreciate at a safe and predictable rate. The best place we have found is right here in Southern California within a sixty mile radius of Los Angeles.

4. How long have you been offering this real estate opportunity?
Our business has evolved from the extremely successful personal investments of our founders. Since 1974 their enterprises have helped over 10,000 individual buyers build their personal wealth with land banking. Our proven three step formula provides individuals and business owners with an innovative option to secure a better retirement, a legacy for their children and grandchildren; and we have voluminous testimonials from our buyers attesting to their satisfaction.

5. Does your opportunity help investors build long term wealth, immediate cash flow or both?
Land Banking is a term used by both individual investors and corporate land developers. It is the strategy of purchasing a parcel of land and holding (or banking it) it for typically five or more years for future sale or development.

Land banking is a proven long-term appreciation strategy for building wealth and providing individuals with a safe and profitable alternative for building their retirement nest egg. But, successful land banking requires planning and patience

6. Is financing available for your opportunity?
At this time there is no financing available for our process. We focus on helping people make their retirement funds work smarter and harder than they can in traditional methods. Therefore, it is cash that is already available but performing at less than the optimum capacity.

7. Are there any special tax advantages?
If using retirement funds then the tax advantages are great, especially if held in a Roth account.

8. Why is your opportunity ideal for self-directed IRA investing?
IRA monies are already set aside for long term wealth building. This is exactly what Land banking is all about. It is a long term strategy that blends perfectly in the IRA model.

9. How does your company make money?
ACE Capital makes it‘s money at the time of purchase. Our acquisition department is second to none in finding properties that meet our specific formula specifications that ensure appreciation. We buy direct from private owner with cash so we are able to strike great deals. We do not buy from the MLS or brokers so the prices are much better. As we are able to purchase the properties at well below market value we are able to cover our expenses and still offer the properties back out at below fair market value. The appetite for profit is low as we are able to help many people move into Land Banking. Therefore, volume sales help keep the prices where we can put people in equity position right away.

10. What type of results can investors expect with your opportunity?
First and foremost, we have never lost anyone’s money. It is a tangible, grant deeded, title insure piece of property. We have statistical data provided by an outside source that shows the appreciation rates in the area where we focus has been able to provide consistent 18-20% compounded annual appreciation for years. Specific information is available upon request.

10 Questions With - Hanover Investments

Congratulations on your brand new self-directed retirement account! Now what are you going to invest in?

I've been finding that some new investors when confronted with this question aren't sure how to answer it. They're enchanted by the freedom of controlling their retirement account and the range of investments the self-directed environment provides. So they take the first step and open a self-directed account. But when it's time to make an actual investment, they are frozen with indecision by the same, unlimited choices that they were initially attracted to. In essence, their path to financial freedom is mired in a money market account making 1% instead of the larger returns they envisioned.

We believe one way to thaw this indecision is with more in-depth knowledge on what's possible, how these investments work and who is behind them. We are currently adding a new section to our site entitled "10 Questions With". For every opportunity we believe in, we're going to ask 10 questions to the provider allowing them an opportunity to explain how their investment works and why it is ideal to hold within a self-directed IRA.

The first few will be posted on this blog, so check back often. For today, I invite you to learn more about "Go Zone" investing with Hanover Investments. Please take a read and let me know what you think.

1. Tell us a little about you and your company.
My name is Matthew Stearns and I am Vice President of Sales for Hanover Investments. Hanover is a subsidiary of Guterman Partners which has been around 40+ years. We are fund advisors, developers, real estate investors, and property managers.

2. Please tell me about your real estate opportunity.
Our opportunity is ideal for every day business professionals that want to invest in real estate passively and are looking for strong returns and tax breaks with a turn key strategy. Because of the current market conditions, and the low cost of purchasing as opposed to developing, we are currently buying in bulk directly from developers of new condominium and townhome projects with our own cash. The in bulk discount we receive is passed on to investors who purchase the individual unit or portfolio of units from us at today’s current market value as an investment vehicle. We also offer a “total leasing program” which contractually guarantees 30 months NET cash-on-cash returns from the day a purchase is made. At the end of the 30 months, the investor can continue to hold and manage the unit, still with positive cash flow, or sell it at current market value.

3. Where does your opportunity exist?
Our opportunities are in “make sense” markets. The primary market of focus right now is the Gulf Coast of Mississippi in an area called the Go Zone. The Go Zone is short for The Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, signed into law by President Bush on December 21, 2005. It contains significant economic incentives to rebuild the Gulf Coast, as well as to attract new investments to the affected areas. This market was rated #1 by realtor.org in 2008 and offers huge tax incentives to investors and home buyers. We have limited inventory and demand is high down there because of the strong condition of the housing and jobs markets in Mississippi.

4. How long have you been offering this real estate opportunity?
As I mentioned earlier, Hanover is a subsidiary of Guterman Partners which has been around 40+ years. We have successfully deployed this business model for the last 40 plus years, starting in New York with apartment buildings in the late 60’s. Currently, we have been focused on the Gulf Coast since the Go Zone legislation was enacted in 2005. We currently manage 25 plus complexes Nationwide and have over 500 units in our "total leasing program."

5. Does your opportunity help investors build long term wealth, immediate cash flow or both?
These opportunities build both. Investors will see cash on cash returns during our lease as high as 40% for the term. And this doesn’t take into consideration the tax benefits or future capital appreciation potential that we believe the Gulf Coast offers.

6. Is financing available for your opportunity?
Yes. We have non recourse lending institutions for those investing in their IRA and private, portfolio, and conventional banks for those that want to purchase with cash. We still go as high as 90% financing for investors purchasing with a conventional or portfolio lender.

7. Are there any special tax advantages?
Yes. The "Go Zone" offers a 50% bonus depreciation in the first year they place the property into service to offset other gains. Please see your CPA for your specific scenario. This is the biggest reason to purchase in the Go Zone. Take a $200k offering. You can depreciate 50% of that asset in the first year you place that asset into service minus that tax bracket you fall into, to offset other gains!

8. Why is your opportunity ideal for self-directed IRA investing?
This is a fully managed real estate that cash flows from day one. It’s as easy as watching your IRA statements coming to you in the mail. Moreover, non recourse lenders for IRA’s are just like commercial lenders and they look at the performance of the asset, not the individual. This makes the approval process very easy. Investing in real estate through your IRA is becoming the latest trend!

9. How does your company make money?
Hanover makes money by subletting the unit out to other renters after the investor purchases the property. The investor will cash flow on the lease with Hanover and we will cash flow with our tenant. This is possible because when we purchase from the developer we purchase with cash and in bulk. That discount is passed onto the investor through the "total lease program", a discount they could not obtain on their own. Our profit is solely made by subletting and managing the unit. The investor utilizes our discount to hedge any risk on the property making it a safe and secure investment from day one. After our lease is up at 30 months, we can continue to manage the investment for the investor and take a management fee that is originally covered through our lease until the day they sell.

10. What type of results can investors expect with your opportunity?
All investment opportunities result in positive cash flow from day one through the life of the investment. As stated previously, it’s a managed real estate investment with minimum assured 30% cash-on-cash returns. Additionally, investors can take advantage of the "Go Zone" tax credit, if they apply.