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As Massachusetts Approves Gaming Properties, Casino Consultant Announces Three Elements of Fiscal Cliff That Could Worry Gaming Investors

Saturday, December 1st, 2012


Boise, Idaho (PRWEB) November 30, 2012

Tired of its residents spending their money at casinos in neighboring states, Massachusetts is debating about and licensing gaming properties, but the so-called fiscal cliff could pose a serious challenge before the casinos even become a reality, according Martin R. Baird, a casino consultant and chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a guest service consulting firm to the global gaming industry. Baird has announced three aspects of the cliff that could become a barrier to investment in Massachusetts gaming.

As its residents play at Connecticut, New York and New Jersey casinos, Massachusetts is knee deep in the casino debate and moving forward with licenses, but could it all disappear before it even happens? Baird asks. Casinos have been approved, but if the fiscal cliff happens, will investors behind some of those properties have second thoughts and withdraw their support?

Economic concerns of another kind already have caused one Massachusetts mayor opposed to gaming to change his mind. Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said Nov. 26 that he was worried about the economic impact on his city from a casino going up in nearby Springfield. Morse said he is willing to negotiate with a developer to bring a resort casino to Holyoke.

There are three major factors coming out of the fiscal cliff that could have a catastrophic impact on the casino industry in Massachusetts, Baird says. They are federal tax increases, state tax increases and increased competition. Simply put, when taxes go up, people have less to spend. When competition increases, they have more places to spend the little money they have left. That would translate into hard times for casinos in the very near future.

Federal Taxes. If President Obama and Congress cannot reach an agreement on the fiscal cliff, federal taxes on almost all Americans will increase, Baird says. The payroll tax holiday will come to an end, Baird says. Washington is talking about reducing the mortgage tax deduction, shifts in the alternative minimum tax that would take a larger bite and starting the death tax at $ 1 million. The Congressional Budget Office sees the potential for a recession in 2013 with all these changes.

When hard-working families in Massachusetts are forced to send more money to Washington, they will have fewer dollars to spend on entertainment, Baird says. Casinos are part of the entertainment industry and customers with a thinner wallet will either spend less on the casino floor or not show up at all, Baird adds.

Massachusettss farm families could be hard hit, Baird says. They could really suffer because Congress is looking at higher taxes on people making over $ 250,000 a year and lowering the death tax to estates of $ 1 million, Baird says. Add the potential of higher taxes on dividends to those two changes and one of the most important groups to the casino industry seniors also would be significantly impacted.

State Taxes. Federal spending cuts are also part of the fiscal cliff and that would mean less money for states, according to Baird. This means that states will need to increase revenue from other sources, Baird notes. Casinos have a giant bulls-eye on their back when it comes to taxes. Sin taxes are always the easiest ones for politicians to pass. When looking around for new revenues for education and social services, it wouldnt be surprising at all if legislators focused on casinos.

Increased Competition. New competition is coming from other states in the region, Baird says. The challenge is that many states now allow casinos and that means less revenue for states like Massachusetts, Baird notes. The competition is coming from virtually all sides geographically as a result of states scrambling to increase revenue.

So what can casinos do?

Casino executives have little to no control over these looming problems, Baird says. But they do have control over the products and services they offer, and now is the time for them to take a hard look at those areas so they are prepared for whatever decisions the president and Congress make.

When it comes down to it, casinos that have great service and offer an amazing gaming experience will make it through the hard times. With 20 years of casino consulting experience, our company has never seen anything like this and casinos better take action now if they want to survive.

Robinson & Associates has created a presentation on the fiscal cliff. To obtain a copy of the presentation, contact Lydia Baird, director of business development, at 208-991-2037 or lbaird(at)raresults(dot)com.

About Robinson & Associates

Martin R. Baird is a casino consultant and chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc. For 20 years, Robinson & Associates has been dedicated to helping casinos improve their guest service so they can compete and generate future growth and profitability. A Boise, Idaho-based consulting firm to the global gaming industry, Robinson & Associates is the world leader in casino guest experience measurement, management and improvement. Recently, it announced Simply Share, a real-time customer feedback platform that makes it fast and easy for casino customers to share their experience directly with casinos instead of posting comments online at social media sites.

For more information, visit the companys Web site at http://www.casinocustomerservice.com or contact Lydia Baird, director of business development, at 208-991-2037 or lbaird(at)raresults(dot)com. Read about casino customer service improvement at Martin Bairds blog at http://www.mbaird.blog.com. Robinson & Associates is a member of the Casino Management Association and an associate member of the National Indian Gaming Association.

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Retirement Investors Turning to Master Limited Partnership Investments Through a Self-Directed IRA to Bolster Their Retirement Savings, IRA Financial Group Reports

Sunday, September 23rd, 2012


Miami, FL (PRWEB) September 21, 2012

IRA Financial Group, the leading facilitator of self-directed IRA LLC solutions has seen a strong growth in demand for retirement account holders looking to bolster their retirement savings by diversifying their retirement portfolio and making investments into oil and gas master limited partnerships (MLPs).

Over the last 6 months, we have seen a significant a number of new clients looking to use retirement funds to make investments into oil and gas master limited partnerships in order to improve their retirement prospective even though there may be a potential tax on the income, stated Maria Ritsi, a paralegal with the IRA Financial Group. Using a self-directed IRA to invest in a MLP is allowed by the IRS, however, using an IRA to make the investment could trigger a tax since the income could be considered unrelated business taxable income (UBTI). “In other words, if the income is considered active business income and is not considered passive, such as a royalty, a tax of approximately 35% can be imposed on the income generated by the MLP,” stated Ms. Ritsi.

Since the stock market crash of 1998, many Americans have been disheartened with the conventional buy-and-hold approach to retirement investing and the dismal returns it has provided. Accordingly retirement investors, especially baby boomers are eager to improve their retirement prospects. What we have noticed is that a large portion of investors are seeking to use a self-directed IRA to take advantage of the attractive returns that master limited partnerships, especially in the oil and gas industry have been providing, stated Ms. Ritsi.

Our average client has approximately $ 125,000 in their retirement account, which is inline with the average American, stated Jacky Ospina of the IRA Financial Group. Americans collectively are $ 6.6 trillion short of the amount needed to retire comfortably, according to a 2010 analysis by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. American retirement investors are enthusiastic to increase the value of their retirement accounts and are looking to a self directed IRA as an answer, stated Ms. Ospina.

The IRS has always permitted an IRA to make limited partnership investments. As the manager of your Self Directed IRA LLC, the IRA holder will have control over his or her IRA funds so that you will have direct control and the ability to make non-traditional investments, such as master limited partnership investments stated Ms. Ospina. Even though the tax advantages offered by the MLP are not as attractive for a retirement account, a high number of self directed IRA investors are seeking to invest in MLPs to generate higher returns for their retirement funds, stated Ms. Ritsi.

A Self-Directed IRA, also called a Self-Directed IRA LLC with checkbook control, is an IRS approved structure that allows one to use their retirement funds to make real estate and other investments tax-free and without custodian consent. IRA Financial Groups Self-Directed IRA involves the establishment of a limited liability company (LLC) that is owned by the IRA (care of the IRA custodian) and managed by the IRA holder or any third-party. As manager of the IRA LLC, the IRA holder will have control over the IRA assets to make investments, like MLPs and not just investments forced upon you by Wall Street.

With a self-directed IRA with checkbook control established through IRA Financial Group, an investor is able to use retirement funds to make MLP investments penalty free. Some investors have also used Roth IRA funds to make MLP investments so that any future distribution of investment gains will be tax-free.

The IRA Financial Group was founded by a group of top law firm tax and ERISA lawyers who have worked at some of the largest law firms in the United States, such as White & Case LLP, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, and Thelen LLP.

IRA Financial Group is the market’s leading checkbook control Self Directed IRA Facilitator. IRA Financial Group has helped thousands of clients take back control over their retirement funds while gaining the ability to invest in almost any type of investment, including real estate without custodian consent.

To learn more about the IRA Financial Group please visit our website at http://www.irafinancialgroup.com or call 800-472-0646.







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Columbus Real Estate Investors Association Welcome Message

Monday, September 3rd, 2012

Welcome to the Columbus Real Estate Investors Association. We provide real estate investing networking, training and private coaching in the areas of wholesaling, landlording, rehabbing, foreclosures, Section 8, and more. Meets monthly at the Makoy Center in Hilliard

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Investors Hire National Workout Firm, Breakwater Equity, to Restructure Met Center 1 and 2

Saturday, August 25th, 2012


Austin, Texas (PRWEB) August 24, 2012

Breakwater Equity Partners, a commercial loan workout firm, has been hired by nineteen tenant-in-common (TIC) investors to restructure Met Center 1and 2, located at 7901 E Riverside Drive in Austin, Texas. The investors recently filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to stop the imminent foreclosure of the building.

When the owners purchased the two-story office building in 2007 for $ 12.1 MM it was 100% leased and producing healthy dividend distributions to the owners. By 2011 occupancy dropped and the sponsor stopped paying dividend distributions. Refinancing became impossible after the owners discovered that expansive soils had caused the slab and flatwork to shift, creating millions of dollars in damages. The loan matured in November 2011 and the TIC investors were unable to pay off the $ 8.6MM balloon payment.

Due to the costs of remediating the building, Breakwater believes that the current value of the property is approximately $ 3.5MM, putting the property $ 5MM underwater. We are in the process of completing a debt restructuring and remediation on Met Center 10, which is located just up the street from Met Center 1 & 2, said Armand Nicholi, Chief Financial Officer for Breakwater. As we have demonstrated on Met 10, it is a time consuming and expensive process to pursue wrongdoers, collect judgments, and then permanently fix structural issues.

During the mid-2000s TIC investments were marketed to small investors as a strategy to defer income taxes through IRC 1031. Due to the real estate bubble, these investors had large sums of money to reinvest in real estate. Most of these investors were inexperienced and were looking for safe and steady retirement income. Unfortunately, some of the sponsors did not disclose all of the risks associated with these investments and many mom-and-pop investors should not have been encouraged to plunge their life savings into these speculative ventures, said Phil Jemmett, Breakwater CEO. In addition, some of the properties were grossly mismanaged and most of the properties did not have a viable plan to refinance or restructure the debt when it came due. This is a recipe for disaster. Most of these investors cannot afford to lose their nest egg.

After reviewing their options the owners decided to hire Breakwater to save their investment. When the building went up for sale on auction.com, we knew that it was time for professional help, explained Marilyn Broderson, a member of the Steering Committee. Breakwater is the only company that has successfully restructured TIC-owned properties in bankruptcy. We filed bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure and can now focus our attention on pursuing the companies and individuals who created this nightmare.

We successfully restructured a TIC-owned property in this same business park — Met Center 10. The owners are very happy to recover their entire investment, said Jemmett. Met Center 1 and 2 has many of the same potential defendants and we are confident that the courts will hold the wrongdoers responsible. On behalf of the investors, Breakwater has hired Knisely, Prehoditch & Panzer, P.C., an Austin law firm, to review legal claims and pursue litigation.

About Breakwater Equity Partners

Breakwater Equity Partners is a San Diego-based commercial real estate workout consultancy and investment firm. Through Breakwaters extensive experience on over 200 engagements with loan values in excess of a $ 2.5B, the firm has devised a unique, multidisciplinary approach to uncovering and resolving distressed asset situations. Breakwaters professional team combines legal, financial, economic, banking, and real estate expertise to devise customized strategies for each case regardless of market (gateways to tertiary), asset class (single and multi-family, office, flex, multi-tenant land, time shares, development, power centers) or loan type (portfolio or CMBS). Please visit our website at http://www.breakwaterequity.com to review case studies on representative deals.

Breakwater Equity Partners, please call 858-490-3630 or visit http://www.breakwaterequity.com.

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