Top three reasons to hold a vacation home in an LLC

If you’re in the market for a vacation home, an LLC could be a smart way to own that property. An LLC, or limited liability company, provides the tax planning and ownership flexibility of a partnership along with the liability protection of a corporation. In most states an LLC can be formed for non-business purposes, including owning a vacation home. Here are the top three reasons to considering holding your vacation property in an LLC: Asset and creditor protection: Let’s say a visitor hurts their neck falling down the front steps of a family vacation home and receives a large settlement from a jury as a result. If you hold your vacation home in an LLC, your family exposure to the settlement would be limited to the investment in the LLC–in other words, the vacation home itself. Your primary residence and other assets, as well as those of your co-owners, would be shielded. Of course, you’ll still need adequate liability insurance to supplement the protection offered by the LLC. Property management: If you own a vacation property with other family members, setting up an LLC will allow you to set some terms. Things like deciding who is allowed to use

June 28, 2019 No Comments

Stocks versus real estate

A lot of people contact us asking about buying real estate. “It’s a hard asset and they’re not making any more of it,” they say. When we’re asked this question, we try to explain the advantages of owning stocks instead of or in addition to real estate. One way we do this is explaining how our portfolio managers pick stocks, and then comparing the costs of stocks to real estate. Picking stocks isn’t that different from looking for a good piece of real estate. First, you look at the quality (who built it, where it is, etc.). Then you figure out its worth, or valuation. Next up, you figure out your best- and worst-case scenarios for rent and taxes. (For stocks, you look at things called price-to-earnings ratios and cash flow return on investment). When the real estate is priced below your worst-case scenario, you buy it. That’s how it works with most stocks, too. There are, however, a couple of differences between real estate and publicly traded stocks, namely liquidity and low transaction costs. This ought to make real estate investors sit up and take notice. Let’s look at liquidity first. If you need cash, selling real estate may

April 8, 2019 No Comments

Stocks vs. real estate

A lot of folks contact us asking about buying real estate. “They’re not making any more of it. And it’s a hard asset,” they say. When we’re asked this question, we try to explain the advantages of owning stocks instead of or in addition to real estate. One way we do this is explaining how our portfolio managers pick stocks, and then comparing the costs of stocks to real estate. Picking stocks isn’t that different from looking for a good piece of real estate. First, you look at the quality (who built it, where it is, etc.). Then you figure out its worth, or valuation. Next up, you figure out your best- and worst-case scenarios for rent and taxes. (For stocks, you look at things called price-to-earnings ratios and cash flow return on investment). When the real estate is priced below your worst-case scenario, you buy it. That’s how it works with most stocks, too. There are, however, a couple of differences between real estate and publicly traded stocks, namely liquidity and low transaction costs. This ought to make real estate investors sit up and take notice. Let’s look at liquidity first. If you need cash, selling real estate may take

May 4, 2018 No Comments

Two Azzad portfolios achieve ‘Top Guns’ status from Informa Investment Solutions

Falls Church, Va., 5/19/16 – Azzad Asset Management today announced that its investment portfolios have been recognized with one of the asset management industry’s highest honors. The firm’s REIT (real estate investment trust) strategy and small-cap growth stock strategy were awarded “Top Guns” distinction from Informa Investment Solutions’ PSN manager ranking database for the first quarter and 1-year periods ending March 31, 2016. Additional recognition was given to the Azzad REIT strategy for the 3-year period. This is a highly anticipated quarterly ranking and is widely used by institutional asset managers and investors. “The PSN Top Guns ranks products in six proprietary star categories in over 50 universes,” said Leno Toich, managing director of Informa Investment Solutions. “This data-driven award recognizes elite performers on the leading investment manager database in North America and provides high-level exposure to hundreds of institutional clients and investors across our platform.” Achieving the Top Guns distinction means that the Azzad REIT and small-cap growth strategies are among the top 10 performers within one or more peer groups reporting to Informa, the longest running investment manager database in North America. In addition to top 10 performance by both portfolios in their respective asset class categories, the

May 24, 2016 No Comments

Azzad real estate strategy ranked #1 again

Falls Church, Va., 2/17/16 – Azzad Asset Management today announced that it has again been recognized with one of the institutional asset management industry’s highest honors. The firm’s REIT (real estate investment trust) strategy was awarded “Top Guns” distinction from Informa Investment Solutions’ PSN manager ranking database for the fourth quarter, 1-year, and 3-year periods ending December 31, 2015. “The PSN Top Guns ranks products in six proprietary star categories in over 50 universes,” said Leno Toich, managing director of Informa Investment Solutions. “This data-driven award recognizes elite performers on the leading investment manager database in North America and provides high-level exposure to hundreds of institutional clients and investors across our platform.” Achieving the “Top Guns” distinction means the Azzad REIT strategy is among the top 10 performers within one or more peer groups reporting to Informa, the longest running investment manager database in North America. Notably, the strategy ranked #1 out of 52 products and 41 firms in the Informa REIT universe for the quarter-end and 1-year periods. The REIT strategy also finished in the top 10 for the U.S. equity category for the 4th quarter and 1-year periods ended December 31, 2015. PSN’s U.S. equity universe comprises 3,131

February 17, 2016 38 Comments

Azzad’s REIT strategy achieves ‘Top Gun’ rating

Falls Church, Va., 11/19/15 – Azzad Asset Management’s REIT (real estate investment trust) strategy was awarded the prestigious “Top Guns” distinction from Informa Investment Solutions’ PSN manager ranking database for the 3rd quarter, 1-year, and 3-year periods ended September 30, 2015. Achieving the Top Gun distinction means the Azzad REIT strategy is among the top 10 performers within one or more peer groups reporting to Informa, the longest running investment manager database in North America. The strategy ranked #1 out of 52 products and 41 firms in the REIT universe. The REIT strategy also finished in the top 10 for the U.S. equity category for the 3rd quarter and 1-year period ended September 30, 2015. PSN’s U.S. equity universe comprises 3,124 products from 947 firms. “We are pleased to see that our REIT strategy has delivered competitive risk-adjusted returns, not just in its asset class but also when compared to the U.S. equity market as a whole,” said Azzad CEO Bashar Qasem. “I congratulate our investment team for their rigorous adherence to our low-leverage sustainability criteria. Recognition like this reminds our clients that they can achieve results without compromising their values.” A highly concentrated portfolio, Azzad’s REIT portfolio generally holds

November 20, 2015 No Comments