Retirement Funds Unchained: How to Use Your IRA in Private Investments & Stay Compliant | Webinar E35

Most investors don’t realize they can use their IRA to participate in private real estate, equity, and alternative investments — without losing tax advantages.

  •  Nate Dodson — Securities Attorney, CEO of CrowdFunding Lawyers, and serial entrepreneur whose firms have helped close $10+ billion in capital transactions. Nate has trained over 1,000 capital raisers and built multiple seven-figure firms. He will break down compliance essentials for private offerings, syndications, and fund structures — and explain how Wall Street’s move toward Main Street is reshaping opportunities for Family Offices and high-net-worth investors.

  •  Kaaren Hall — Founder & CEO of UDirect IRA Services, author of Self-Directed IRA Investing: A BiggerPockets Guide, and a nationally recognized expert on retirement account strategies. Kaaren will share how to unlock the full potential of self-directed IRAs, what the IRS allows (and prohibits), and how investors can confidently diversify beyond Wall Street.

What You’ll Learn:

  •  Which investments qualify for IRA funding (and which don’t)

  •  The step-by-step process for opening and funding a self-directed IRA

  •  How to avoid prohibited transactions and IRS penalties

  •  Compliance guardrails that protect investors and sponsors

  •  The growth of private offerings, syndications, and fund-to-fund structures

  •  Real-world examples of investors successfully deploying retirement funds

Whether you’re an investor seeking to maximize your retirement account or a sponsor raising capital the right way, this session gives you the roadmap to invest smarter and stay compliant.

Paradyme

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_02 (00:40):
Hey guys, Ryan Garland here, founder and
chairman of Paradigm.
Thank you very much for uhwatching this uh episode.
We're gonna we're gonna call itepisodes because these webinars
are just becoming more and morepopular and we host them all the
time, once a month at least.
And as you guys know, I havesome of the coolest people ever.
And I always uh I always chasedown the right talent for
everyone to kind of get to knowwho's involved and what we do

(01:00):
and ultimately the thesophistication to help you as an
investor potentially positionyourself for your future and
ultimately know which decisionsyou need to make and ultimately
just know what's out there.
And so I uh I'm honored today tobe uh to be uh two guest
speakers, two people that I'veknown for a really long time,
and I don't want to age us here.
Really long.

(01:21):
I know, sorry, but we have KarinHall, which is the director of U
Direct.
She has actually worked with alot of our clients for uh the
IRAs and self-directed IRAs, andfor some of our current network,
you guys know that we have a lotof our investors invest into uh
and use through uh their IRAsinto our funds and into our
investments.
So I think it's really importantbecause a lot of our clients

(01:43):
don't know that you can use anIRA.
And with the big blue, beautifulbill that just was released,
there's a lot of uh informationthat I think everybody really
needs to know.
And Karin's gonna talk on that.
So, Karen, thanks for having tobe me uh being with us today.
Thank you, Ryan.
Appreciate it.
And Nate, Nate is the like look.
So let me just back up withNate.
Not only is Nate and I personalfriends, we've got a chance to

(02:04):
spend a lot of personal timetogether.
He came out to Mechula and he'sout in Dallas now, and he's got
a wonderful family.
He's kind of hell had a hell ofa background, and he just is
just one of the mostsophisticated security attorneys
in the space.
And for those of you that are inmy network, you guys know I try
to surround myself around thetown.
And and you really want peopleto protect you and watch over

(02:26):
you and make sure you disclosethings properly and you're in
you're in compliance.
And Nate has been just anadvocate for us, he's been my
biggest fan when it comes to howwe operate and protecting us and
making sure we're doing thingsright and really opening up the
floodgates of knowledge too, onhow we should not only solicit,
but how look at the market andwhich way the direction, which
way the world's going.

(02:46):
But he works with so manydifferent operators and he sees
things that do work and thingsthat don't work, that it's
really nice to kind of have himas a as a soundboard.
So, Nate, thank you very muchfor joining us too today.

SPEAKER_01 (02:57):
Thank you.
And I'm actually starting toblush.
So I did say you look goodagain.

SPEAKER_02 (03:05):
I did say you're a handsome man.
I was like, man, you look goodevery time I see you.
I can't believe how good lookingyou are all the time.
So we got to start this off.
So I just want you guys, everyeveryone to know that Karin Hall
used to actually have a voicefor radio.
Oh, yeah.
So, Karin, give us just likeyour best voice before we start
off.

SPEAKER_00 (03:22):
Okay.
Uh, how about this?
Smooth jazz 107.5, the oasis.

SPEAKER_02 (03:29):
I love it.
How cool.
Thank you for that.
I actually want to listen tothat later on this afternoon.
Which which radio station wasthat?

SPEAKER_00 (03:35):
Oh man, that was uh the away, it was in Dallas, uh
smooth jazz station, been in afew different markets, but that
was when I was in my 20s, whichwas obviously just you know a
scant moment ago.

SPEAKER_02 (03:45):
That was just a few months ago, right?
Correct.
I love it.
Well, you know what?
Let's start, let's start withyou.
I think this is reallyimportant.
The majority of our clients,again, are utilizing IRAs and
and don't know they can usetheir IRAs and kind of how the
401k rollovers work and soforth.
So we're gonna give you the micfor a few minutes, see if we can
add some value to our networkand and uh kind of give us kind
of an overview of what who youare, background, what you do,

(04:07):
and then you can talk on thebig, beautiful bill, please.

SPEAKER_00 (04:09):
Oh, I'd love to.
You know, well, I mean, like wejust pointed out, my initial or
first career was in radio, whichI did, you know, while I did
other things, but 17 years I didradio and simultaneously I did
other things.
I got into real estateeventually as a realtor for one
year and uh but propertymanagement, managing like big
little buildings and then biggerbuildings, you know, and it got

(04:31):
some of that uh behind uh behindme and then uh moved into
mortgages, mortgage loanservicing, loan origination, uh,
became a real estate investor.
So that was a lot of years too.
And and then I got I got out ofradio quite some time ago.
And then in the Great Recession,like, ah, I can't, I can't do
what I know.
I need to do something new.

(04:52):
And so I found a J O B like ajob, and I worked for a
self-directed IRA company fortwo years and then broke off and
started Udirect IRA services in2009.
So now we have$1.2 billion undermanagement.

SPEAKER_02 (05:06):
So that's that's a that's an under that's an
undertaking, andcongratulations.
I think before we even startedthis, I had told you how
impressed I was about youbuilding awareness of your
platform.
And I think all of the content,which by the way, I think it's
really important to just leteverybody know you wrote a book.

SPEAKER_00 (05:22):
Oh, yeah, I did.
Yeah, in fact, wait, I mightactually have it right now in my
hands.

SPEAKER_02 (05:27):
I think that's really cool.
In fact, I want to read itbecause I think there's a lot I
don't know.
I'll be honest, I'm kind of aconstruction guru, you know.
I don't know everything there isto know about that stuff.
So I I actually want to read it.
And so I want to be able to whatwe'll do is at the end of this,
within the content, we'll goahead and provide uh everyone's
contact information where to getit.
And I want you to be able toshare that.
So that's really important whenyou get to a certain you know

(05:49):
level in business.
If you're able to truly providemore information for people to
really dive deep into it, that'shuge.

SPEAKER_00 (05:57):
Yeah, and it's uh I did I published this book,
co-published with biggerpockets, and so it's it's really
a real estate investor'sself-directed IRA book, you
know, and it's a a guidebook,not a storybook.
It's it's something likereference, like open it up, look
in the glossary, find what youneed to know, and one of those
kind of books.
So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (06:15):
And that's and that's the marriage right there,
right?
You know, why why did we bringon one specific person to talk
about IRAs?
I just have seen you for yearswork with majority, seems like
it's more real estate driven.
And that clearly clears up alittle bit of the the the
question was you know, yourbackground.
Obviously, you were in thespace.
So naturally you're gonna havethat type of clientele.

SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
Yeah, and and with the self-directed space, the
assets you know in self-directedIRAs are like it like seems like
about 90% real estate related.
If it isn't buying the actualproperty, it's investing in a
syndication.
Nate, do you know what thoseare?
Have you ever heard about that?

SPEAKER_01 (06:51):
Oh, maybe syndication, maybe more than 10
billion times.

SPEAKER_00 (06:56):
Yeah, yeah, sorry.
Yeah, the expert in syndicationsover here.
So no, so syndications are thenumber one asset class for
self-directed IRAs, but it uhsyndication is a is a contract.
I mean, the underlying assetsreal estate.
Uh you can buy the brick andmortar or you can make loans on
real estate.
So real estate is really tiedto, I'd say, 90% of the assets

(07:18):
that people self-direct into.

SPEAKER_02 (07:20):
Yeah, and that's really important just because
you know, there's so different,so many different ways to invest
the IRA into a real estateproduct, you know, through
mortgage-backed securities andtrusteed investing into multiple
different funds, whether it'sdebt or equity funds.
Uh, what are some other assetclasses they can get into?

SPEAKER_00 (07:38):
Well, I mean, cryptocurrency, right?
Uh that's that's really takingoff.
And, you know, and and so it'sstill the Wild West.
It's not fiat currency, is it?
It's not backed by anything,it's not like the Holland tulip,
you know, craze.
I think it's got a little bitmore substance than that, or
quite a bit more, but uh, butit's it's early days.

(07:58):
So, but that is a huge assetclass for self-directed
investors.
People really like it becauseyou can take a little bit of
money and just kind of play, youknow, stick your foot in the
water and see how it goes.
So, and also we're seeing a lotof people in precious metals
now, too, uh, with currencybeing a question.
And and currency has always beenbased on gold, hasn't it?

SPEAKER_02 (08:18):
Yeah, and that just spiked a little bit earlier.
If you if you can't, I knowwhere Nate was gonna go.
Go ahead, Nate.

SPEAKER_01 (08:22):
No, no, no.
I've I've got a big question.
Okay, because we talk about whatcan invest through the
self-directed IRA, but whatcan't be invested through a
self-directed IRA.
I think that's just as equallyimportant.
Of course, real estate, you'regood to go most of the time.
Right.

(08:43):
But what can't you do?

SPEAKER_00 (08:44):
Well, it's the list is so short.
I mean, it'll take two seconds.
It's life insurance contractsand collectibles, you know?
So there you go.
Life insurance, contracts, andcollectibles.

SPEAKER_02 (08:54):
Well, that's easy.
No, Nate, question for you.
How many, how many of yoursyndicators and your clients and
operators do you think are theytargeting uh clients and
investors with IRAs?

SPEAKER_01 (09:07):
Uh only about 110%.

SPEAKER_02 (09:12):
And so how much do you have any data?
And I'm I know that we wehaven't even talked about this,
so I'm just we're kind of goingoff the top of our head.
Do you have any information on,you know, let's say, for
example, someone's raising fivemillion dollars, what the
percentages of clients andinvestors uh are that are
utilizing IRAs?

SPEAKER_01 (09:29):
Well, I can tell you you're actually capped, you're
only allowed to accept so muchIRA qualified money.
And you can't go beyond, youreally shouldn't go beyond 25%
of your deal from IRAs or thesponsors or you have a ton of
red tape and problems to dealwith.

(09:50):
So it it kind of is one ofthose, yeah, get in, get in
quick because it's a limitedspace that the IRAs can actually
play.

SPEAKER_00 (09:59):
I have a question for you, Nate, if I can.
So is it 25%, even if realestate is the underlying asset?
I thought the 25% was out thewindow if the underlying asset
was real estate.
Am I right about that?

SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
But people aren't investing in real estate,
they're investing into an entitythat it's investing into real
estate, and that's thedifferentiation.

SPEAKER_00 (10:19):
Okay.
Little Gene Crowbridge, youknow, knowledge there from the
past.
So, okay.

SPEAKER_01 (10:25):
Yeah, and it does matter what they're investing
into.
So, one comment that I want tomake, you know, we work with a
lot of syndicators.
And I I know, Ryan, you're agreat, uh, great guy open to
making deals, making thingshappen.
A big thing that people talkabout nowadays, it's called a
fund of fund, where uh someoneelse can put together a fund to

(10:47):
invest into someone else'ssyndication.
So kind of way that you canbuild a team together, but it's
very similar that people think,oh, I'm just investing into real
estate, but you're really not.
You're investing into an LLCthat is investing into an LLC
that eventually owns realestate, and people just don't
really think step by stepthrough it.

SPEAKER_02 (11:08):
That's true.
You know, do you do you know?
Um how you know, let me ask youthis.
Are you how many of yourrequests to start a funds is
real estate based, mate?

SPEAKER_01 (11:21):
Uh y it's a vast majority of what we do is real
estate and real estate related.
But yeah, I'll be perfectlyfrank.
The reason that it's like that,you're doing real estate deals.
You do many real estate deals,it's deal after deal after deal
after deal.
If I start a company, maybe I doa founder raise and it's limited

(11:45):
who gets in, I get funded, andthen I'm just focused on the
company.
I'm not trying to raise morecapital.
So a lot of what we talk aboutis real estate because that's
where the deals are at.

SPEAKER_02 (11:55):
Yeah, and you know, and most people want to do SPV,
special purpose vehicles foreach project that they're
involved in, and it's reallyjust because every project has
its own merits, you know.
And it seems like that's wherewe've been successful is kind of
streamlining one project thatpeople can really dive into to
get comfortable and invest into,really get to know it instead of

(12:15):
a portfolio.
We actually tried that with ourfirst reggae, it was kind of a
portfolio, and that was alsowhen before the SEC really
allowed you to do series withinside the reggae offerings,
too, if I recall.
So yeah, that was really good.
And I really wanted to touch onthat too.
And thank you for bringing thatup because I would have forgot.
You know, the whole fund of fundthat's really kind of that
family office concept where youhave someone who wants to manage
money or can manage money orsomeone that's aligned with,

(12:36):
let's just say, us as a as anoperator, and say, hey, you
know, I have a group ofinvestors, I want to participate
in it.
I'm gonna open up a fund, I'mgonna put 100,000 or 200,000 of
my own money into it.
And then I have a group offriends and family or you know,
some other investors we've doneother business with, but I love
your model and I want to get in.
So then they manage a fund andthen that fund invests into our
fund.
And that's what the fund is,right, Nate?

SPEAKER_01 (12:58):
Yeah, it is, but it's like nowadays, like the
fund of funds is just kind of uhnomenclature.
Like people will set up a fundto invest into your specific
syndication, not a whole bunchof deals like a traditional
mutual fund or a private equityfund.
Uh, it's just let's be honest,some people are good at

(13:20):
operating business, some peopleare good at raising capital.
You're one of the outliers thatcan actually do both, but the
guys that raise capitalsometimes really shouldn't be
doing real estate dealing.
I totally agree there.
We need to work with you andpeople like you to make sure

(13:41):
that they don't get themselvesor their investors in trouble.

SPEAKER_02 (13:44):
Yeah, no, I appreciate that.
Thank you very much.
All right, Karin, let's talk alittle bit about the big
beautiful bill.
I think there's some content wewant people to know about, and
uh that has kind of been one ofthose things that we a lot of
people are calling us going,hey, we need advice, and legally
we can't, you know.
So this has really given us theability to kind of shed some
light and utilize our resourcesto to paint the yellow brick

(14:05):
road.
So if you don't mind, where arewe?
Where are we going in the world?

SPEAKER_00 (14:08):
Yeah, you know, it's big, it's beautiful, and it's
bringing in alternative assets,but not like self-directed IRAs.
And so there's a lot ofmisconception about that.
So the what's on the deck rightnow is that IR 401k is employer
plans, 40401k, 403B, 457s, willbe able to invest in alternative
assets.

(14:29):
With a self-directed IRA, youjust go grab that asset.
It won't be like that.
So in order to invest in a lotof these alternative assets, and
of course, we've got you knowthe experts here, uh, Nate,
expert of the uh accreditedinvestor.
So you have to be accredited alot of times to get into these
deals, right?
So, say for example, you'reworking at Home Depot and you've

(14:49):
got a 401k and you want your401k invested in alternative
assets, well, you're notaccredited, possibly.
You know, you you might not bean accredited investor.
And so you couldn't get intothat deal directly.
But what would happen is say, Idon't know, say John Hancock is
got is got the, you know, is isthe plant administrator here,
whatever the the big companythere, they're going to create a

(15:11):
fund of alternative assets.
So it's that level where they'regetting in, they're the
alternative, or sorry, thethey're the accredited investor.
And now got you know, personfrom Home Depot invests in their
fund, not in the asset directly.
You see?
And so that's how you get pastthe accredited investor portion
uh to have people with the 401kwork in a regular nine to five

(15:35):
job investing in alternativeassets in this way.
Uh so there's one thing.
But another thing that'sincredibly important is that
yes, this bill passed, it did,but there's still some time for
oversight.
So the Department of Labor saidthey're going, they're gonna
take a 180-day look at thefiduciary responsibility, you
know, because we've we've gotcompanies, we have 401ks for our

(15:57):
companies.
So we're a trustee of that plan.
We have a fiduciary duty.
And if we allow our employees toinvest in scary assets or
dangerous assets, we could beliable.
So the Department of Labor hastaken a look at that.
Maybe they're going to indemnifyum, you know, plan trustees,
like employers.
Uh, so we'll see what they do,but it'll be six months out uh

(16:17):
before the DOL is gonna soundoff about their findings.

SPEAKER_02 (16:20):
Got it.
Well, let me ask you this,because I kind of I love I'm
actually gonna learn a lot withyou here.
And I thought I didn't know morea lot, but I I always I'm humble
enough to say I don't knoweverything.
Okay, so let's let's kind oflet's dissect that a little bit.
So if you have a 401k, let's sayit's it's housed at like uh
Fidelity or uh uh what's theother few other ones?

(16:42):
Um Schwab, yeah, Charles Schwab,what have you.
The operator, someone like methat managed the fund manager,
we would have to submit thatfund, right?
To right, okay, to and getapproved on that platform, yes,
right, which also requiresaudited financials and and
yearly auditors, right?

SPEAKER_00 (17:02):
Yeah, well, it's TBD, it's early days, right?
It just passed about a monthago.

SPEAKER_02 (17:06):
So well, the standard process now for RIAs
and so forth on some of thelarger outfits is the same way.
And if you have a reggae, let'ssay you're non-accredited, I
don't think you're talking moreof accredited, but even with
reggaes, you have to haveaudited financials, Nate.
If I'm correct me if I'm wrong,yes.
Um, but you you know, if you'regonna go after the accredited
space and that custodian, inessence, is operating as uh as
the accredited, uh, yeah, so wewould definitely need to be uh

(17:29):
approved, is kind of where Ithink would be.
I'm I mean, I may be wrong andyou're right that you have to
180 days to have to figure thisout, but I think that's probably
the process that we want.
They would vet us as a goodoperator and that we have the
right practices in place andthey would look at who our
securities attorneys are andthey would want to see our our
uh our infrastructure.

SPEAKER_00 (17:46):
Absolutely, absolutely, because they're in a
way they're representing you,aren't they?
Out out to the out to thegeneral public.
So we'll see how this goes, butthat that's a logical path
because it's sort of the waythat things are done already.

SPEAKER_02 (17:58):
You know, and I would say we've lost a lot of
investors because they've wantedto use their 401ks and they
couldn't because they wereeither still employed or a lot
of FedEx, a lot of lawenforcement, you know, um uh
people in you know the uhmedicine world, you know, so
forth uh really got it had topass on a lot of clients.
And you know, they're like,well, then I'll call you when I
retire.
And I'm like, well, when's that?

(18:18):
You know, I can't roll it over.
So okay, any other uh anythingelse you want to touch on?

SPEAKER_00 (18:23):
Well, I think you know, that's the latest, but I
just think briefly, aself-directed IRA, just to say
they've been around 50 years,it's nothing new, and it's a
simple process.
After you've done your duediligence, you know, then that's
the hard part.
Then you open an account, takes10 minutes, fund the account uh
with either a rollover from aprevious employer plan, IRA to

(18:44):
IRA, you could transfer an IRA,or the third thing you could do
is contribute from your ownchecking account.
So open, fund it, and theninvest.
So you give us the docs, youknow, and the IRA is the
investor, not you, the person,but the IRA entity is the
investor.
And then we fund that deal fromyour IRA.
All the proceeds go back to theIRA that owns it.
And you just have to make surethat those proceed checks are

(19:07):
always made payable to the IRAand not, ah, if they're ever
accidentally made payable toyou, just return that check to
your depositor.
Yeah, don't deposit it.
Just nicely send it back, say,oh, little mistake here, let's
fix this.
Because if you put that checkthat belongs to your IRA in your
own account, that could be, youknow, it could lead to a
prohibited transaction.

(19:27):
So just that's an easy way tostay clear.
Open fund invest, basically.

SPEAKER_02 (19:31):
So Rachel has a question.
It says, Can you invest in anoil and gas through an SD IRA?

SPEAKER_00 (19:37):
You can, but uh that is it's a really interesting
asset class.
It's interesting because whenyou invest personally, like
outside your IRA, you can getsome massive tax breaks.
And it can be great for you todo personally and not with
qualified funds.
Now, in qualified funds, a lotof times I know that some of the
big uh oil and gas companiesthat are out there, they'll have

(19:58):
a separate asset forself-directed IRA accounts.
Maybe it'll be the land or itwill be the business or
something.
It won't be the actual oil whereyou get the rights and the, you
know, and those massive taxbreaks.
So there are different ways forself-directed IRA to invest in
oil and gas that are differentthan you might, a different way
than you might invest inpersonally.

SPEAKER_02 (20:19):
Yeah, and I think you're right.
There's multiple ways to investinto the oil and gas industry
overall.
It just depends like on thenature of the structure.
Great.
I great.
Is there anything else that wewant to touch on with the big
beautiful bill?

SPEAKER_00 (20:30):
No, I think I think that's how it applies to uh
retirement.
Now we had Secure Act 1.0 in2019, Secure Act 2.0 at the very
end of 2022.
So the the federal governmenthas really tweaked retirement
plans.
They're kind of done with that.
So I'm very happy it's changed.
We've had some changes.
Um, so that's happened and nowwe're going forward.

(20:50):
But this isn't going to changeself-directed IRAs.
It's going to change theemployer plan.

SPEAKER_02 (20:55):
Yeah, you know, and it uh to be to be candid too,
you know, a lot of our clients,especially if they've been with
us for several years, you kindof get to know them on a
personal level.
And I would say, you know, a lotof the I would say institutional
trading platforms, they're justnot creating the returns to
allow people to feel comfortablethat they're going to be able to
retire and have really thewealth that they need to enjoy

(21:16):
their lives.
Or even, you know, most peopleare trying to get worried about
healthcare costs.

SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
It's true.
Yeah, you can self-direct evenan HSA, a health savings
account.

SPEAKER_01 (21:25):
All right.
Well, it's my turn to moderatebecause Ryan froze up.
Uh so got a couple of questionsfor you, uh, myself.

SPEAKER_00 (21:35):
Okay.

SPEAKER_01 (21:35):
Uh, one from Anthony.
You know, there's a lot of uhheavily discounted Roth
conversions.
Could you speak a little bit towhat a Roth conversion from the
IRA to the Roth actually reallylooks like?
I mean, it's it's something thatcomes up so unbelievably often.

SPEAKER_00 (21:54):
Yeah, that heavily discounted really hits.

SPEAKER_01 (21:56):
Yeah, I don't know what that even means.

SPEAKER_00 (21:58):
Well, I do.
I mean, if if you're going tosay, like, oops, my, oh, guess
what?
My traditional, my asset, mytraditional IRA really isn't
worth that much.
And then I'm gonna put it in aRoth.
Oops, suddenly the valueincreased.
Like, who knew?
Uh, that looks like Roth fraud.
So don't do that.
But a typical normal, you know,traditional to Roth conversion
is simply you open two accounts,a traditional and a Roth, you

(22:18):
move the assets, could be cashor assets, you convert them from
one account to the other.
And the dollar value, theappraised value of the amount
you converted, you're going toget a 1099 with that same number
on it, and it will be taxable toyou at your regular tax rate.
So you can do that, pay the taxnow and not pay the tax later.

(22:38):
So it could be doing yourretired self a favor today.

SPEAKER_01 (22:42):
Okay.
So some more questions for you.
Ryan, it it's nice to see youhere.
Like, we don't really need you.

SPEAKER_02 (22:48):
I'd like to say I had to use a restroom break, but
that really wasn't the case.
No.

SPEAKER_01 (22:53):
All right.
I I know it's so confusing forboth investors and operators,
like the investment process withan IRA because it's like, oh, I
invested.
Well, you did you invest or didthe custodian invest?
You fill out the paperwork, do Ifill out the paperwork?

(23:13):
And there's just so muchconfusion around this.
Yeah.
Can you clear the air a littlebit?

SPEAKER_00 (23:19):
Oh, I sure sure, but for us, we have people vest as
you know, non-trust custodialIRA.
So actually the account holderis signing the docs, you know,
in in in representing their IRA.
So that makes things a littlebit actually quite a bit easier.
So that that's nice.
Um, but then uh I IRAs aren'tdifficult.

(23:40):
Once you get the docs, you'veyou I mean it really can be
very, very simple.
Where do you see a snag?

SPEAKER_01 (23:47):
Uh everywhere along the way because you look at like
an investment document, and thenthere's the line that says
investor, sign here.

SPEAKER_00 (23:56):
Oh, okay.
So I sign it.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (23:59):
Custodian sign it.
I know they're sending in themoney.
I'm not sending in the money.
So it just creates so muchhavoc.
I know there's even somemedallion, and I don't even
understand this medallion, butthere's even a stamp there.

SPEAKER_00 (24:10):
Yeah, I know.
Well, I think so, so if if itsays FBO, so if it's like Nate
or if it's the custodian for thebenefit of Nate Dodson's IRA,
the custodian's going to signthat.
The way we vest is that theaccount holder can sign.
Now, the the the medallionsignatures, and if you don't
know what that is, it's sort oflike uh like a notary stamp that
goes on the transfer document.

(24:31):
And typically that is for movinglarge amounts of cash.
It's it's kind of anold-fashioned sort of thing, and
but still sometimes it'srequired to transfer from one
IRA to another.
That's when a medallion stampcomes into place.
Sometimes that happens.
You can usually get a medallionstamp at a bank if you need one.

SPEAKER_01 (24:48):
So, what you're really saying is if anybody asks
for the medallion stamp, theyare just old-fashioned.
And they probably should getwith the times talk to someone
like yourself.

SPEAKER_00 (25:01):
Well, it's about security, you know, it is.
And so every institution orevery company is gonna have its
own uh you know guidelines,their own security measures, or
how they want to do things, ortheir procedures.
And so uh medallion stamp is oneof those procedures, or it could
be.

SPEAKER_02 (25:17):
You know, I got a question, Karen, Karin.
We're we're gonna pick on you, Ithink, the whole time here.
Okay.
So one of our uh one of oursticky uh points has always been
processing.
You know, that's one of thereasons why we reached out to
you, um, is really trying to uhjust make it smoother for the
client because really there's alot of information and content
that don't they don't understandand they really don't know where

(25:38):
to start, right?
So what would be let's talkabout the process with you if
let's say someone's gonna moveinto a self-directed, open up an
account with you.
What's the process?
And then what's your um let's uhso there's a couple couple
questions.
What's the process?
And then what would be theengagement letter letter uh
level with someone like us asfar as we refer the client to

(26:00):
you, uh investor uh you knowopens up an account and then
they want to invest into one ofour funds.
Kind of what's the standardprotocol for you guys?

SPEAKER_00 (26:09):
Well, I it couldn't be it could hardly be easier.
Do you could just you know do anemail introduction if we just
want to go bare bones?
You could just do an email tointroduction, and then from then
we pick it up.
We offer always a freeconsultation with that account
holder, that that that investor,and we want to talk to them
about well, tell us about theasset.
What are you investing in, andtell us more about who owns the
asset?

(26:29):
Because there are rules that wehaven't covered yet.
They're called it's what youavoid.
It's not what you do, it's whatyou don't do.
They're called prohibitedtransactions.
So we're gonna listen like, hey,is this prohibited?
Um, so you don't haveself-dealing, so your IRA
doesn't invest in asset.
You own, you know, they'reprohibited transactions.
So we're gonna listen to theinvestor, they're gonna tell us
about their deal.
And then we want to answer alltheir questions.

(26:51):
Maybe they don't understand, uhI don't know, maybe how to do
this or the tax deductibility orsomething like that.
Now, of course, we're not taxprofessionals, but we can give
general, you know, guidance onon uh how that works.
So very simple, you open anaccount, we have a digital form,
and you fill it out, just soeasy.
Uh, you move the money in, andwe have staff that's going to

(27:13):
really hold your hand throughthat process.
So while the money, while you'rewaiting, because it can take one
to two weeks for anothercustodian, you know, to move
that money.
And so while we're waiting, thenwe're getting the documentation
from the asset sponsor.
We're going to review it.
And typically a lot of this isthe same, right, Nate?
And when you're looking at asyndication, there's a certain

(27:34):
structure that you're lookingat.
So it's not like each one'svastly different.
So it's not that complex for usto look at it and know what
needs to go on there.
And so we hold the investor'shand there too, to make sure
their docs have the rightinformation in the right place.
And then we also want to take alook and make sure that the
investor is actually receivingan asset in exchange for their

(27:55):
money.
It's just something that we liketo do.
But 100% of the responsibilityis on the investor, the account
holder, uh, to make sure theydon't commit a prohibited
transaction and to make surethat they're doing it right.
But we're here just to guidepeople uh that whole way.
So that that's basically how itgoes, soup to nuts.

SPEAKER_02 (28:11):
Yeah, and what we do is we typically will send over
the operating agreement,subscription agreement, and they
will take a look at it, read it,get to know it.
And then obviously, because theIRA account is making the
investment, we have to make surewe get an account number from
you guys, we put it on thedocument, we send it out for
signature, and then we send itto you.
So, really, and your team, soreally are you signing it or are

(28:33):
the investor signing?
Investor signs it, but it'sreally signing in the behalf of
the non-trust custodial IRA,right?
Perfect, got it.
So, as long as we have theaccount number on there, uh,
that's really important, and thename of the custodian, correct?

SPEAKER_00 (28:48):
That's right.
That's right.
And we'll give you everyeverything, and it won't be a
massive mystery at all becauseit's it's it's very cut and dry.
We do this a hundred times a dayat least.

SPEAKER_02 (28:57):
So yeah, I know you guys are a billion dollars in a
management.
I can only imagine at least thata day.
So do you have any questions?

SPEAKER_01 (29:03):
Uh yeah, I I've got a question.
Ron's got the same question.
Now I made my investment, Igotta get my money back.

SPEAKER_00 (29:11):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (29:12):
What does it look like working with you?
Can't the syndication just writeme a check?
Or like what does that processlook like?
Because all of a sudden you'rein the middle.

SPEAKER_00 (29:22):
Right.
Okay.
So someone maybe they invest inthis in a syndication.
They want to leave, yeah, likean early exit, you mean?

SPEAKER_03 (29:28):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (29:30):
So we'll ask them to talk to their syndicator, talk
to their asset sponsor, and tellthem what their needs are.
Because sometimes there is anopportunity for someone to get
out of a deal early.
Uh, and so that's something thatan investor would negotiate with
the actual company they investedwith.
And then that company would movethe money into the IRA if, you

(29:51):
know, once they reach thatagreement.
That's how that would work.
Yeah, and that's true.

SPEAKER_02 (29:55):
We get that all the time, especially when people go
through hardship, you know.
We get that quite a bit, believeit or not.
You know, there's sometimes wehave the ability to do it, and
then sometimes we really justdon't.
It just depends on the nature ofthe project and where it's at,
and so forth.

SPEAKER_00 (30:07):
You bring up a really huge point.
Uh, it really triggers somethingfor me to say.
And that is sometimes whenpeople invest in uh in
syndications, now tell me whatyou think, but they don't
necessarily understand thatthey're there's no promise to
repay that.
And what they're really doing asan investor is like partnering
in a way with that assetsponsor, like, hey, we're both

(30:28):
going to try to make this work,we're gonna do our very best,
but we're sharing the risk.

SPEAKER_02 (30:32):
Yeah, and it's we say the same thing.
We're all in the same boat withthe same row.
We're just the one with thestrong back and doing all the
heavy lift to try to get thedeal done.
And that's exactly I love theway you said that because it
really that's why they call themlimited partners.
You are a partner, you know, inthe investment.
So it's it's true.
And then, you know, again, thenature of the investment too, a

(30:53):
lot of the times in real estate,depending on the nature of it,
uh, and I'm gonna talk reallykind of our side because we
don't want to construction,right?
We have to build the thing, wehave to have a capital event,
whether we finish it, refinanceit, or sell it, uh, we really
can't re return capital.
So it's so important thatclients, investors really know
what they're getting themselvesinto and when they part ways,

(31:15):
try to stick with the the lengthof the project, but also know,
hey, the world kind of kicks usin the teeth with tariffs and
other things.
You know, sometimes it takeslonger to build or develop.
And we've had that too.
You know, I mean, we've had alot of ups and downs.
And hey, you know the stories,man.
You're probably getting it fromeverybody.
Everybody across the country hasissues, and it's hard to get
materials and you know, certainuh electrical components, as an

(31:35):
example, has been kind of a painin the butt.
Garage doors for us has been apain in the butt.
You know, it's just one of thosethings that for big to make big
money, it's not easy.
Somebody always tells you tofight all the way through.

SPEAKER_00 (31:45):
You know, we're just then you got the black swans,
like all of a sudden rates go up4,000% or something like that.
And you didn't really plan forwe've seen a lot of uh even
today, we have uh IRA accountholders, investors who have
invested in syndications andthey got a capital call.
And some of them don'tunderstand why they would get a
capital call.
So it's just so important tounderstand your asset before you

(32:07):
invest.
And that's because it's like,no, you're supposed to pay me.
I don't pay you, you pay me.
And but you know, but you'resharing that risk.
Well, we, you know, we need todo this, and we, you know,
because of the rates went up, wehad to reinstate our debt at a
higher rate.
And so now we've got a differentcash flow.
And you know, and then youexplain it, we're all gonna win,
but we all have to row together.
I think that that's that that'swhat you say, right?

SPEAKER_02 (32:29):
Yeah, oh yeah.
Well, and in probably in somecases more than that, you know,
we really the idea is tounderstand really kind of those
the sticking points of theproject.
Um, and then, you know, foragain, I'm just kind of speaking
for us, you know, with thesticking points of the project,
what are the main hurdles?
I think with our experience now,we really can articulate it in a
way that pretty much anybody canunderstand our hurdles, right?
And and that's one of the thingstoo, is we've had people where

(32:51):
they're like, well, we reallydidn't know what we're getting
ourselves into.
We're like, okay, we don't wantpeople to feel that way, you
know.
So we're spending more timedoing these types of things
where we're building thecontent, allowing everybody to
take as long time as they wantto watch videos, you know, read
the documents, ask questionsfrom either anybody on my team
or myself, you know, and reallykind of give them an overview.

(33:11):
And one of what's what I thinkhelps, and I I say it
respectfully, a lot of times I'dlike to get to know my investors
and kind of have they'veinvested in something like this
before.
How you know, what do you do fora living?
It kind of gives me an ideawhere they are and knowledge,
uh, so I can then touch onthings they may not know or what
they should know.

SPEAKER_00 (33:28):
Yeah, know your investor is huge, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 (33:31):
Mm-hmm.
And you know, when you havegood, when you have a good, you
know, one thing I've realized isthat when you communicate well
and you're transparent, it'sokay when you have hardships.
A lot of people just theythey're they're the ride to wave
with you.
They're totally okay.
It's the non-communicativeholding things back that really
creates a problem, right?
So when you when you really doopen up to your clients and kind

(33:51):
of give them everything toconsider on the front end, you
can call them down the road andsay, hey, are you sitting down
or standing up?
Sit down for this one.
But hopefully we have asolution, you know.

SPEAKER_00 (34:01):
Yeah, you know, because some people, it's like
their pride, they don't want tosay we're having a problem.
And that's when you that's whenuh an asset sponsor like you, I
mean, you know, you like youneed to be a humble guy because
you've got to say, you knowwhat, the world isn't perfect.
And here's an example.
Like you said, are you sittingstanding up or sitting down, you
know, and you've got to think,but we're gonna get through
this, and this is how.
And you you show them a plan, aplan forward, and like everybody

(34:24):
gets it.
It's you what what hurts is whensomeone's afraid to say that
there's a problem instead ofjust, hey, you know, life
happened, here we go.
So when people are afraid totell you there's a problem, you
need to be knocking on that dooras an investor.
Like, look, I know there areproblems, just tell me what it
is, right?

SPEAKER_01 (34:38):
Yeah, I could speak on this just a little bit
because of so much of what I'veseen in the syndication and
frankly, just economic world,macroeconomics.
It's been tough for a lot ofsyndicators over the past couple
of years with costs going up,inflation, interest rates going
up.

(34:59):
But one of the toughest thingsthat people don't recognize is
the stock market.
It's been going gangbusters forthe past few years.
That's been a lot of where toinvest, but now it's like this
big bubble.
And there's such a huge risk ofthat bubble just bursting.

(35:21):
I mean, you talked about theGreat Recession 2008, 2009.
I was in the epicenter of LasVegas at the time.
These things happen, and whenthey happen, they happen fast.
Yeah, and so it is really rightnow that you know, if you're
heavily in the stock market,investing into those hard assets

(35:43):
that regardless of what happens,there's value in the real
estate.
There's that perfect saying orthat traditional saying, there's
never going to be more of it.
Yeah, that's so true.
So I do think over this nextyear, I mean, it's been a tough
time, but interest rates arestarting to come down.

(36:03):
The government is at leasttrying to stabilize pricing to
help.
But also, we're going to start,and it's already beginning,
having an outflow from the stockmarket into real estate.
So the gains are starting towell, just frankly, look nicer
where the real estate marketsare going.

(36:25):
So I just kind of want to givethat more macroeconomic.
Let's be honest about what'sgoing on.

SPEAKER_02 (36:29):
You know, Nate, there's so much truth to that.
Um, I would agree with you whenyou watch Warren Buffett, you
know, pull$278 billion out ofthe stock market, put it into a
put it into a uh uh, what wasit?

SPEAKER_01 (36:41):
He put it into, I think put it in a JP Morgan, he
put it into some sort of uh bankaccount, in essence, you know,
um to just he owns more of thetreasury bills than the Federal
Reserve does.
Oh yeah.
Like he's pulling out, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (36:56):
And but did you see what was it, five or eight
hundred million dollars in DRHorton and Lenar, and he went
wall in.
You know, he he for he went intoa cash position for a very long
time, and he just startedwatching.
He goes, All right, I'll goahead and dump 800 million
dollars into you knowresidential builders.
I thought that was prettyimpressive.
And if you look at thosebuilders, you it and that was

(37:18):
what I think that's the key.
Like what where is where was thecapital going?
That means they're sayingsomething we're not necessarily
seeing, which is great to kindof keep an eye on that.
But they invested into twobuilders that I think are two
kind of different worlds, andthat was a big eye-opener for
me.
Lenar, I would say, is probablya higher end builder, and most
times the more primary marketsthey love kind of an upper

(37:39):
class, larger lot, a littlehigher dollar amount price
point.
And then you have D.R.
Horton, which is a little bitmore on the attainable side.
So the fact that he just wentinto residential uh all the way
through was really impressivefor me.
And that's that's I think that'sa testament to what you just
said, you know, the stockmarket.
And then we have clients toothat are just so tired of the
volatility and the anxiety theyget with the with the market

(38:00):
going up and down.
People are liquidating now,going, I see it, I feel it, I've
been doing this for 20, 30years.
I need to get into somethingthat's stable, that has a three,
four-year run, and I just don'thave to worry about it, you
know.
But I get some I get some cashflow, maybe they diversify into
some accumulation and equityplay.
They get some cash flow, theytry not to lock up their capital
too long.
You know, that type of stuff hasbeen kind of the nature of our

(38:21):
conversations lately.
So I really appreciate youtalking on that.

SPEAKER_00 (38:24):
Yeah, I mean, after out of the recession, didn't
home builders stop building forabout 10 years?
Isn't there still like a deficitthat that has never been brought
level?
I mean, they they just haven'tbuilt enough houses.
So I could really see that.
And and uh there's definitelysupply and demand and throw in
there people, probably like allof us who have houses that are
at 2.75%.

(38:45):
Am I right?
And so would we ever sell thathouse?
No, we wouldn't.
So it it locks up thatinventory.
So we we have to build that thatmakes a lot of sense to me.

SPEAKER_02 (38:54):
You nailed it.
All right, Nate, since we uh wekind of stole this for the last
30 minutes, I really wantedeveryone to get to know you
more.
So, and I and I and if you don'tmind, let's go a little bit
about your background.
I think what I love about youthe most is not only my personal
relationship with you, and I cantee off on that for hours, but I
love the fact that you acquireda law firm and that a lot of
your old attorneys actually cameand now work with you, that

(39:15):
you've had work with you in thepast.
And so, you know, I think that'sa niche in itself that a lot of
people don't understand becausethat's really kind of a private
equity play.
I mean, you are that mind.
And then you obviously have thepolish in regards to the
security side.
So I I just want everyone toreally get to know you a little
more because I would recommendyou, and I already do, as you
know, I send as many people as Ican your way.
But anybody who's watching thisthat has thought about opening

(39:38):
their first fund or it's a 10thfund or it's a unique structure
that you just need other peopleas an advisor to kind of guide
you in the right direction andeven bring that insight about
the market and will it besuccessful?
You know, and I think that'sreally important.
So, Nate, if you mind, give us alittle more about your
background.

SPEAKER_01 (39:54):
I I will get do the humble brag as good as I can.
But uh no, I I'm not just likethat traditional attorney.
I'm not just out there.
I I've honestly actually nevereven been to court and like
argued a motion, it's just notwhat I do.
I used to be a stockbroker, justselling investments just like
Ryan, just like a lot of thesyndicators out there going and

(40:19):
hey, what makes sense?
How do you move money around?
One of the first lessons I gotas a little kid learning how to
read on the Wall Street Journal.
If you want to make the money,you got to learn to work with
the money, how to invest themoney.
So I became a stockbroker aftera little while, and then uh we
don't need Ryan.

(40:40):
So eventually I end up uh goinginto law school.
It was actually after the uhinternet bubble popped.
So have a lot of experience withbubbles popping.
Ended up becoming an attorney,went right back to doing the
investing, but on this side,it's on the representative side.

(41:00):
I was there in uh Las Vegas in2008, and you know what?
It was the other bubble popping.
Now this was real estate, butyou know what?
There were more millionairesmade out of that recession than
ever before.
Yeah, so it's like that's huge,but you know what?
I'm also a big beneficiary ofthat because then I started

(41:23):
syndicating with partners, andwe acquired 4,000 multifamily
units over a matter of fouryears.
I don't even know, Ryan, if youknew this, but uh I knew you
were doing it a little bit, butI didn't know you were to that
level.
That's huge.
Oh, talk the talk, walk thewalk, and then I started buying
law firms, and uh actually Ihave my fifth law firm is

(41:43):
closing this week.

SPEAKER_02 (41:45):
Congratulations! How cool!

SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
Entrepreneur through and through.
And I I just I love to helppeople reach their goals.
I love business, the strategy,the creativity, and how to reach
really the new heights.
And I'm here to help you andeverybody else that doesn't
understand Ubit and whateverelse comes to the table, because

(42:08):
I think that's one of the mostthings.
I get asked about that the most.

SPEAKER_02 (42:12):
The most.
Nate, you know what?
So let's talk.
I got a couple questions foryou.
So, one someone that's in thereal estate space, like an
operator like me, let's say it'stheir first fund.
What is the hardest, what's oneof the hardest things to
overcome uh for a first-timefund manager?

SPEAKER_01 (42:30):
I'll give you the two worst things in the world is
if you open up your own fund,you don't have a track record.

SPEAKER_03 (42:37):
Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (42:39):
You're raising capital, you're telling a good
story, here's what I plan to do.
But if the proof is in thepudding, they don't have that.
And that's really where it'seasier for people that are just
getting started to do more of afund of funds, meaning working
with experienced, accomplishedoperators.

(42:59):
But also, you bring up a fund.
A fund traditionally means Ican't even tell you what I'm
going to invest into becauseit's into a bucket of money that
I'm gonna invest someplace.
That's way more difficult.
And frankly, investors theydon't like it quite as much
because they don't know wherethe money is going.
They're not looking at the land,the demographics, what's getting

(43:23):
built there, really able tojudge the operator beyond just
the hey, I'm gonna raise somemoney and invest into real
estate.
So between the unknown of Idon't know what to invest into,
and the I don't have a trackrecord either, those are the
biggest hurdles of opening up afund.

(43:45):
And you know what?
To be perfectly honest, that'swhere both of those biggest
hurdles get solved by workingwith current operators, the guys
that have already been there,the guys that can say, This is
the property, this is the dealthat we're working on, this is
my track record.
And then as a new fund manager,you can borrow that credibility

(44:09):
because it's not really on youto make the money, it's on these
guys to make the money.

SPEAKER_02 (44:15):
Right, totally agree.
Okay, so let's let's talk about,let's say somebody wants to open
up a fund.
What's what's the process?
We uh let's say I have a friendI want to introduce to you.
Obviously, we email you, or theycontact you guys, or call your
call your main line.
What's the first step, if youwill, besides an engagement
letter?
We all know that happens, butlet's talk about what you what

(44:35):
do you do?
Is there a consultant?
Is there one is like aconsultant, an hour consulting,
kind of getting to know who theyare and what they're trying to
accomplish?

SPEAKER_01 (44:42):
You know, we're unique, so I'm gonna speak about
us and then them being all theother attorneys that are out
there.
You know, we expect people tojust come to the table with a
napkin and a dream.
What are you trying toaccomplish?
And then we take the time toback into not just what's legal,

(45:05):
but the reality of what's goingto sell, what are investors
into, what terms are expected inthe market nowadays because that
always shifts and changes.
So great to work with theexperienced guys, they know what
they're doing, but the new fundoperators that I haven't really

(45:28):
done this for a long time.
That's a lot of where we takethem by the hand, spend that
time going through more of aconsultative process.
And it's not until somebodysays, Okay, I get it, I
understand.
Here's the deal, here's theterms.
Now let's go.
And at that point, we geteverything together.

(45:49):
It's a couple of weeks becausewe know what we're doing, and
this is all that we do.

SPEAKER_02 (45:53):
Yep.
Then you have a great disclosurepackage, you kind of think all
the way through and leteverybody know the risks, which
is really important that peopleknow what the risks are before
they make the decision toinvest.
So I that's one of the things Ilove about you.
And I think that's where a lotof operators, including myself,
when I first started going, holdon, you put all these risks in
there, you don't want to scarepeople away.
But there is, there is, there'sso much truth to just full

(46:14):
disclosure and explaining topeople what they're getting
themselves into.
And that's what I love about youguys.
And the more I season myself,and not to say I have this gray
hair here, but the more I seasonmyself in the space, the more I
actually truly enjoy peoplebelieving in my dream.
So it's more like if I canarticulate what we're getting
ourselves into as best I can,and someone sees it and feels it

(46:35):
excited about it, it makes mefeel great, even when they know
the risks.
You know, they're like, okay, Iget it.
And what's nice is that I I it'smy own coined term, forgive me,
but I call it smart investors.
These are these investors that,you know, know what they're they
like, for example, they know thearea.
Like I'm gonna use Lake Avisoo,for example.
A lot of my investors, they arefrom Lake Avasu or they travel

(46:55):
out here.
So they know the area, they knowthe demand, they they already
have their own uh experiencewith that area, right?
So that's what I love about uhworking with investors that know
what they're getting themselvesinto, but then also kind of
getting into the weeds.
And a lot of times I'm learningthat people ask questions about
maybe construction that they maynot know, but they feel

(47:16):
comfortable enough to askquestions that's not really you
know relevant to the investmentstrategy, but they just are
curious about what's happening,you know.
And I that's the fun part, youknow, and and I think when you
get to a point as an operatorand as a fund manager where you
can have fun with that andyou're building those
relationships with your clients,that's where you win.
That's where the success is.
And that's when, you know,regardless of what goes on,

(47:37):
where you have a win or a loss,you know, a lot of investors
will trust in you and keepinvesting with you, uh, even if
you've had some hard times.
And so again, that's thatrelationship building that I try
to teach.
In fact, uh, Karin, when I'mdoing the, I'm gonna be in um in
Tulum and speaking at Rich'syeah, event, I'm actually going
to bring that up about how thisis such a relationship business.

(47:58):
If you don't put that first,you're not gonna, you're not
gonna be able to really um besuccessful, you know, all the
way down to my contractors andmy subs and the city, right, for
approvals and planning.
I mean, it's a relationshipbusiness from soup to nuts.
So I try to advise people toalways make sure that you look
at it from that standpoint.
If you start off that way,you'll probably be successful.

SPEAKER_00 (48:18):
People invest in with people they trust.

SPEAKER_02 (48:21):
Yeah, and there's so many.
I tell everybody else, oh, youcan log on to social media and
find another investment, anothersyndicator out there.
People invest into the operator.
They really do.
They want to know that that'ssomeone they feel good about,
they get the warm and fuzzies,they trust them, and you know,
they're gonna protect theirinvestment the best they can.
You know, they can't makepromises, but they can make the
best, you know, try to do thebest they can, and that's always
important.

SPEAKER_01 (48:41):
So you know, you bring up social media, and
anybody can get on there and seethere's 10,000 ads, and but the
reality is, is the guys that arepromising the world, and so many
of them are like, you can getthis 25% annualized return in
two weeks.

(49:01):
No, I mean you have to look pastthe the pretty promises that
don't really work out, and ittruly is about the relationship
and about working with thepeople that of course know,
like, and trust.
Yeah, we say that, but it'shonestly, I would tell my
grandma that make sure you'reworking with people that you
again know like and trust.

SPEAKER_02 (49:23):
Let me ask you this, Nate.
So, one of our funds, oursecured income funds, more of an
institutionally designed fund.
You know, it's moremortgage-backed securities, it's
a lending arm.
You know, Karin, you know a lotabout this.
Um we what we what we do is wetry to provide a lot of
supporting data, why thisinvestment is a good idea or
what we see that's relevant, andthen let investors see that data

(49:45):
as well.
Uh, you know, Green StreetAdvisors is a great company to
pull from for data uh from aninstitutional level.
They work with pension funds,hedge funds, anybody in the real
estate space, um, from you know,hundreds of millions of billions
of dollars in in uh in assets toto track, but also provide that
type of data to operators tothen pass on to their investors.

(50:07):
Would you say that the the fundmanagers, the operators, the
successful, more successful onesare the are the funds that are
created with that type of dataand third-party reports and
transparency components to it?

SPEAKER_01 (50:21):
I I think you just mentioned the most important
thing is the transparency forthe investors.
Of course, to make the rightdecision, you need data.
Data is the most important thingin the world.
Uh, people don't even realizethat.
I mean, think of all theseinternet companies, the Amazons.
It's like the reason why they'rehuge and big is because they

(50:42):
have all the data that youdon't.
The same thing applies in doingreal estate deals.
The data is out there, but youknow what?
The institutions, the privateequity, the guys that are in the
business, they receive it formaking the right decisions for
their business, but also for theinvestors.

(51:03):
You should be asking these samequestions.
You should be asking for thesame data.
And if the guys that you'reworking with don't have it,
maybe they're not making thebest decisions.
So having it and communicatingit, but also being transparent.
The good, the bad, the ugly,this is what's going on in the
world is truly what makes thewell, the relationship work from

(51:29):
the syndicator to the investorand building that confidence.

SPEAKER_02 (51:34):
Let me ask you this, and this is going to be a little
loaded, so I may you may have tothink about it.
Which asset class have you seen?
And let's talk about recentbecause we always have cycles,
right?
So let's just talk somethingabout recent.
What with the operators andeveryone that you work with
opening funds, what asset classseems to be shining the best?
Uh, and and and is a goodstrategy moving forward?

SPEAKER_01 (51:57):
Hotels, hospitality.

SPEAKER_02 (52:00):
I like that idea.
Is it the whole Airbnb thingtoo?

SPEAKER_01 (52:04):
Airbnb is actually a thing of the past.
I know it is not the best placeto invest today because it's
oversaturated, it's expensive,and of course, now the hotels
are coming back and saying, youknow what, if you're our
competition, we're gonna try tosquash you.
But we got some money, so we'regonna try to get some
regulations to make your lifetough as well.

(52:25):
So don't necessarily encouragepeople to go the Airbnb route,
but hotels, hospitality, andalso I hate to say this and
admit this.
Our economy is great because ofthe top 20 of the wealthy and
the earners.
So luxury condos, luxury, youknow, building the the lake

(52:52):
barns, like the things that thewealthy can afford.
This is different from the past.
Yeah, like they have the moneythat can do the deals.
Yeah, so that uh is what Ireally see working out today
that has just been different.
I mean, you talk about cycles.
Here's a cycle of where we'reat, and it's really

(53:12):
macroeconomic causes.

SPEAKER_02 (53:15):
Are you seeing are you seeing a lot of operators
starting to move in differentmarkets geographically as well?
They're not just let's saysomeone's from Southern
California or just Dallas.
Are they starting to venture offinto other states and other
markets?
Are you seeing thatdiversification now too?
We see that.
Ish, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Karen, you're seeing that a lot.

SPEAKER_01 (53:33):
I mean, yeah, a lot of it where the hot spot to do
the deals, it always moves.
Texas is always a hot market,Nashville has been huge for a
long time, Arizona goes backforever, California.

SPEAKER_02 (53:47):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (53:48):
But it is like well, you know, I was thinking about
moving back there, but then Ibought a place in Spain, and I'm
so much happier than I was.

SPEAKER_02 (53:59):
And the price point, I remember when you sent me the
video of that place.
I'm like, wait, how much did youbuy this for again?
That was awesome.
I mean, you were like, I mean,it's beautiful, it's beautiful.
Good, good for you.
I remember you back towards liketomato Fallbrook, wasn't it?
When you were looking atsomething out in Fallbrook, you
know what?

SPEAKER_01 (54:14):
Just total side story.
Yeah, but the three things thatI was looking for near the water
with space and a school, goodschool district.
Yeah, you could have two out ofthree, but good luck finding all
three.
So we kind of settled on well,if we can be right next to the
water in Spain, we already gotthe space in the school district

(54:35):
here.
We can just fill in the pieces,and uh, you know, my my girls,
my wife, well, you love it.
So looking for our best life.
And you know what?
That's because frankly, weinvested smart, we work with the
right people, and it's all aboutpartnerships, to be honest.

SPEAKER_02 (54:51):
I love it.
Okay, so let's talk about stuffthat also is really important,
in my opinion, from a complianceside.
So, you know, what what do youadvise your clients?
You know, kind of the bestpractices.
I know that's kind of a loadedquestion because it can go a
million different ways.
Just whatever's off the top ofyour head.
What's best practices when itcomes to compliance?
Whether it's, you know, fromlet's just say it's a 506C, uh a

(55:12):
private placement memorandum.
Do you advise that they shouldhave audited financials?
Um, or do you, depending on thenature of it, like let's talk a
little bit about the compliance,the accredited investor uh side
of things as well?

SPEAKER_01 (55:24):
Uh a little bit of a loaded question, as you were
saying.
But uh yeah, when we wereworking with somebody, the first
question is where are yourinvestors going to come from?
How are you going to find them?
Because that really dictateswhat regulation you can work
with.

SPEAKER_03 (55:41):
Right.

SPEAKER_01 (55:42):
So accredited, non-accredited, there's there's
strategies and styles for all ofthat.
So best practice is figure outwhat makes the most sense for
your business.
Best practice in working withinvestors is say what you're
gonna do and do it.

SPEAKER_02 (55:59):
You know, and you you guys, I love the fact that
you guys are uh for a long timewere looking at a lot of our
marketing content before we sentit out.
I thought that was really neatand really amazing because you
know, when we were first gettinginto it, we didn't know we had
to have certain disclosures onour pitch decks and even some of
our marketing content on uh,let's say uh Meta, right?
Or some of that.
And I I thought that was reallyneat because disclosures are

(56:22):
such an important thing whenyou're dealing with, you know,
raising capital andsolicitation.
I mean, you're dealing with SECoversight, and uh, I think a lot
of people get in trouble ifthey're not disclosing it
properly.
And I think that is where I tryto tell my friends and family
they're getting into openingfunds and managing that you
really want someone that canhelp you oversee that, but are

(56:43):
gonna basically help protectyou, but it's at the same time
protecting the investor becauseyou're ultimately just providing
disclosures of what you need toknow before you get involved,
but then also saying, hey, look,if your investor signs off on
this because they've readeverything, then you're
protected as well, you know.
And I think that's reallyimportant.
And what I was also tellingpeople is a lot of times you

(57:04):
have, you know, investors gothrough hard times that are in a
fund, and you have multipleinvestors in that fund.
And so the last thing you wanttoo is maybe one person that
just has gone through a hardtime to have now a direct impact
on all these other people too,right?
And that is something I thinkmost people don't talk about uh
that I wanted to bring up.
That uh, you know, is there isthere a standard practice, like

(57:26):
let's say, and forgive me, I'mjust gonna throw this out there.
You know, if let's say uh ifsomeone has, you know, is
raising a million dollars andthey have more than four
investors, five investors, seveninvestors, is there like a
standard practice to have adisclosure package?

SPEAKER_01 (57:42):
Uh my opinion is two investors, and I don't care if
it's a small investment, itreally is about disclosing what
you're doing, disclosing aboutyourself, your business plan,
and the risks.
People ask, well, when do I needto hire a securities attorney?

(58:03):
Well, the answer is anytimeyou're pulling together people's
money, and you know what,there's not a grandma exemption.
Like even within your family,you gotta pay attention to these
things.
But the real reason why to havea disclosure document, even if
like legally there's some thingsthat you don't have to disclose,

(58:24):
best practice is to make sureit's all disclosed because it's
not about when things go right,it's about when things go wrong,
right?
And besides pissing off grandma,you gotta make sure that you're
protecting your investors tobegin with, but ultimately
protecting your family and bydoing things right, and if you

(58:48):
don't disclose what you'redoing, things go wrong.
That's when lawsuits happen,that's when complaints, that's
when audits happen.
And all of a sudden you say,Well, I told you.
And then the investor says, No,you don't, didn't you told me
something else, you lied to me.
Well, now if it's in thisdisclosure document, this is

(59:09):
what I said is gonna happen.
This is what it says is gonna bethe risks.
Well, now it's in writing, sodon't lie.
There's always a risk ininvesting.

SPEAKER_00 (59:20):
This is why we always tell people understand
your asset.
And I think you just told aself-directed IRA investor how
to do their due diligence.
You know, read thosedisclosures, read the
disclosures first, read themcarefully, and you'll understand
all the risks.

SPEAKER_02 (59:34):
It's so it really is so important.
Now, more on the sophisticatedoperators, do you guys provide
funds that have the correctverbiage for placement agents,
RIAs, broker dealers, um, youknow, all of that fun stuff that
is also a little morecomplicated?
And then also, you know, can youguys take an operator, let's say
someone who's very seasoned andhas a track record, do you have

(59:56):
the capacity to build out anoffering to go public?

SPEAKER_01 (59:59):
Yeah, we we help with, I know we're called
crowdfunding lawyers, but we doeverything from those little
deals all the way up to thoseIPOs and Pubcos and REITs, and
yeah.
I mean, we've we've got somewell-known names that we work
with that are doing massive,huge deals that they started

(01:00:21):
with a little syndication, andnow some of these people are
nationwide.
So it it really is, yeah.
And that's part of the planningprocess.
What are your goals?
And if you're looking to usebroker dealers, RIAs, there are
certain things that you need tobuild into it.
Yep.
And again, just don't try.
Trust every syndication attorneybecause a lot of them are one

(01:00:44):
trick ponies.
Think that you don't need toworry about 25% with real
estate.

SPEAKER_02 (01:00:52):
Well, okay.
So let's let's talk aboutsomething even deeper because I
really do value ourrelationship.
And you I and for those of youthat can imagine, you know, with
an operation that size of oursat this point, we really just
need those people to watch overus.
Nate, those guys that startedwith first syndications and now
you've kind of taken zero to ahundred.

(01:01:13):
How's your relationship withthose guys?
Is it more personal?
Do you have in-depth knowledgeof their friends and family and
talk to them all the time whenthe market's getting weird and
what the hell's going on?
I mean, you're you're you have apersonal relationship with your
operators.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:26):
Uh, I hate to say that is a benefit and an
absolute curse.
Yeah.
And absol I still have the sameclients from 16 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:37):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (01:01:37):
Like through the good times and the bad, they
have issues that you know, youhave a problem with a project,
it rolls into family and stress.
So part therapists, part bestfriends, part drinking buddies.

SPEAKER_02 (01:01:53):
Yeah, like I could have sworn I didn't get a
college that I didn't go to goodschool to be a cosmetologist.
Jeez, I didn't know.
That's so true.
You're kind of a psychologistall the way through.
Well, I really appreciate that.
Is Nate, is there anything thatyou want to touch on that maybe
I didn't that you want theaudience to know?

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:10):
You're you're covering everything so
amazingly.
I'm just here to be that uh, asyou mentioned, the pretty face.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:17):
Karin, how about you?
Is there anything else you wantto touch on?

SPEAKER_00 (01:02:20):
I think a takeaway with when you think about
retirement accounts is make acontribution, you know, invest
in yourself.
And as a Amanda Hahn, my my uhCPA and a great uh a great CPA,
she says invest uh, you know,invest in yourself and and uh
you know and and pay yourselfand not the IRS.

(01:02:41):
So that's what I suggest.
Go make a contribution to yourto your retirement account.

SPEAKER_01 (01:02:45):
I love it.
Now that Ryan's gone again, Ihis uh internet is probably just
having the weirdest time.
Actually, that's why I camehome.
I was having problems in myoffice as well.
So, you know what?
Forget you, Ryan.

SPEAKER_02 (01:02:59):
Clearly, hey, please share your contact information.
I'll just make it over next timeI do this.
If that's what's going on, man.
Jeez, goodness gracious.
I'm like, I know what I'm gonnaI went to my house too, thinking
I'm gonna have better internethere.
And apparently I wasn't right,so whatever.
Maybe I'll just disclose thatnext time.
Hey, if I you know, if I justdisconnect, it's not because I'm

(01:03:21):
really using the restroom, it'smy internet.
So I'll make sure to put theright disclosures in.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:27):
This has been gone for a really long time.

SPEAKER_02 (01:03:29):
Yeah, you know, yeah.
I'm actually sweating, I ranreally fast.
So, well, thank you guys so verymuch.
It's an honor to have you a partof my platform.
I feel I really do feel blessedbecause I know when I can hand
stuff to you guys, I we justdon't worry.
You got the best of the best.
And so for those of you that arewatching or listening, feel free
to reach out to these two.
Uh, if you have questions aboutyour IRAs, just the knowledge
that's in this room is ispriceless to have in your

(01:03:51):
corner.
So thank you guys very much.
And we'll uh we'll see you guysall soon.

SPEAKER_01 (01:03:54):
Awesome.
Thank you.
Important thing before you go,Karin, how do we get a hold of
you?

SPEAKER_00 (01:04:01):
Oh man, udirect I R A.com.
We're all over social media, butour website, we have so many
blog articles.
If you have a question, we'vegot it answered in a blog
article, I'm sure.
But again, it's udirectira.com.

SPEAKER_01 (01:04:14):
And I will be a little bit more personal.
Just shoot me an email, NateNate at investmentlawyers.com.
Love to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 (01:04:23):
Perfect.
Thank you guys very much.
Have a wonderful day, and we'llsee you soon.