By Janet MorrisseyMarch 31, 2008
Amid housing woes, use of self-directed IRAs is on the rise
Where some see devastation and loss, others see opportunity.
At least that is the situation for investors using little-known, self-directed individual retirement savings accounts to invest in the battered real estate market. And for some savvy investors, it has been a windfall.
Take Stacy Dieckman, a 40-year-old Indianapolis investor who managed to turn a measly $10 bet on a house into a $175,000 profit in a 30-day period. Undaunted by a deteriorating housing market, he spotted a block of discounted homes in a downtown housing development in 2006.
“I was blinded by optimism,” Mr. Dieckman said. “They looked like they were in the path of the [future] upswing.”
