I am a client of UDirectIRA for the last 5 years. I have nothing but good things to say regarding self directed IRAs as a different way to invest for retirement. "Having a self-directed IRA really is a blessing. I retired from my previous employer at 50 years of age. It was a forced retirement because the company was restructuring and losing big bucks on some brands one of which I was responsible for. I spent my 20 years with them doing the right stuff. Putting in 15% of my salary towards retirement. But then at 50 I was faced with retiring early. Which was fine with me. But I also made the decision to not go back in corporate structure. I went off to become a realtor. And you know, going from making big bucks and having all the benefits and so forth to becoming self-employed changed my whole brain and security. I remember when I decided to bring $100K to uDirectIRA. As my own IRA was losing money, putting this money into this self-directed IRA made sense for me. It did what I needed. It gave me a monthly boost to an IRA through the rent money. Plus it gave me equity growth. As a self-employed person, it has given me a small glimpse of security into my retirement age. Whenever that will be. Anyway, I think it is not a well-known tool that could make sense for someone who faced the same issues I faced being self-employed. Every time I feel sad that perhaps I am going broke, I look at my account and say....wait I still have this money in this self-directed IRA . Now that I know one of the units directly across from me closed several months ago at $280K, I REALLY feel good about this vehicle of investment." UPDATE to today. My $92,000 investment in an Own Your Own In Long Beach converted to condo last year which increased the value of my investment. In fact, if I were to sell my condo today, I would sell it for $300K. So my investment tripled. PLUS I have the cash from the rents for the last 5 years. Which has been a significant amount. I will be turning 59 1/2 in 5 months. So I could begin to take distributions without paying the 10% penalty just need to pay my taxes on the money I reward. I feel very safe and secure with this investment moving into my 60's. read more

I sent a web inquiry and a representative named Jeff, returned my message pretty quickly. I was so excited to speak with a representative today after researching and reading so much good information about this company the past couple of nights. After the 1st question, Jeff misunderstood what I was asking... and he started giving a crazy answer that I wasn't asking about at all. I politely cut him off and rephrased the question and got my answer. Okay! Great! The next part of this call went seriously wrong... and I wasn't even able to ask my second question. This person started to tell me I needed all of this income to even have an account there and I would not qualify and he probably couldn't help me. All of this from a 2 sentence online inquiry? I didn't even get to ask my other 2 questions. I just basically hung up on him. Total turn off. Wow. I may not have $250,000 per year income but I wanted to transfer $80,000 into an IRA and begin building a relationship with this company. I tried to call back to hopefully get another representative. Maybe this guy just wasn't in the mood to LISTEN to a potential new client, surely I can speak with another rep who is willing to LISTEN and not assume... and answer a MAXIMUM of 3 very general questions I had prepared. Unfortunately this person seems to be the ONLY rep that I can ask any questions to today (5/26/2021). What??? Only 1 person works here capable of answering general questions?? I spoke with a representative at Madison Trust yesterday and had a great call... I just wasn't too crazy about the breakdown of their fee schedule. This call today with Udirect IRA was TOTALLY RIDICULOUS in comparison. Way to chase away a new client. I liked Udirect's fee schedule from my web research, but if this is the actual SERVICE after trying to do a simple web/phone inquiry... getting talked over ... telling me "We can't help you" after completely misunderstanding what I was even asking in the web inquiry ... I'm only giving 1 star because I have to. I didn't receive the so-called glowing service at all. It actually just pissed me off royally enough to write this review. Do better. read more

I am satisfied and happy with Udirect's handling of my Real Estate investments in my self directed IRA. I learned that I cannot split this single account between these and brokerage-type investments. Instead, I have another account that holds stock, bonds, and mutual funds, in Vanguard. Managing this account with UDirect means I am truly diversified. read more

Overall the team has been helpful and readily available to assist with the process of funding our investments and the associated paperwork. After 2 investments funding timely I'm happy read more

I wish I had checked with Yelp before transferring nearly $200K to this organization. They are completely unprofessional and uncooperative in resolving the following issue: After paying to establish an account not only with uDirect IRA Services, but also with American Estate and Trust (who they represent), I was told that American would not allow the investment I was pursuing. At that point I had to close my account with both uDirect and American, and transfer my funds to Madison Trust in New York (with whom I'm completely satisfied). Since uDirect controlled my funds for less than a week, I thought they would gladly refund the fees I paid for their (nonexistent) financial services. But NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! They refused to refund my fees because they inserted a clause in their multi-page, fine print agreement saying that if I want to be certain they'll approve the investment I chose, that I must clear that decision before establishing the account. Of course, no one told me that before I sent them a check. It was only after they refused my investment and closed the account that they brought this to my attention. I strongly recommend you look elsewhere if you're seeking a trusted financial advisor to administer your self-directed IRA. You should seek an advisor with integrity, one who understands what it means to represent their client's interest, and who honors their fiduciary responsibilities. They obviously have no one on staff who is skilled in client relations. This company is very short sighted and is interested only in what is good for uDirect IRA Services, not what is best for their clients. read more

I have been doing business with UDirect for several years. It is among the cheapest self-directed IRA companies around. While I have found their concern for security a pain in the butt, (requiring new passwords and several extra steps for transactions,) I understand that they are trying to protect me. My experience with David Rodriguez is worth calling out. As the Transaction Coordinator, he has been involved in each of my 'hurry up' investments. He has been careful, courteous and available at every turn. On several occasions he went out of his way to improve my service and achieve my goals. Thank you David! read more

We moved our employee SEP accounts to uDirect. As a hard money lender, we work with most self-direct custodians and administrators our there. uDirect, in our experience, has been one of the leaders in the space that do an incredible job balancing speed and quality. They always pick up the phone. The fees are very reasonable. I also appreciate the owner, Kaaren Hall, and how committed she is to the industry including board service at the Retirement Industry Trust Association. She's also YouTube famous and does a great job educating the investor world about the power of self-directed investing. read more

Hi I just want to give a shout out on behave of Udirect iras in Irvine Ca.I have studied and wanted to invest in real estate for many years.Aftet working for the Los Angeles County Mechanical Department for 32 years and retirement, I was able to move some of deferred comp money to Udirect in a self directed IRA.In a word, I'm fixing and flipping mobile homes.Kaaren and Eric Petrus have been a tremendous help in getting me where I want to go and walked me thru my funding my first deal out in the High Desert. I would strongly reccomend Udirect for anyone like myself wanted to pursue real estate Investment with a good self directed IRA.Thanks again Kaaren and Eric.Dave Doyle, Monrovia CA read more

Udirect has handled my IRA account for about 15 years along with the 101 questions a blonde might ask! They are-- BY FAR --the easiest to work with. Mark G. is my Transaction Coordinator, who goes above & beyond to solve my questions. I have spoken so positive about my dealings with UDIRECT and the ease-- that now my brother-in-law is going to change his self-directed IRA to Udirect. You won't be disappointed. read more

I highly recommend Udirect. Excellent customer service, wonderful staff and just a great team overall. I feel good having them on my team and I cannot recommend them enough. Excellent business and a really great set of people. read more

David Rodriquez and the staff at UDirectIRA have been great to work with these last five years. They have helped me with six different self-directed IRA investments. David is communicative and efficient and has made the process very fluid and easy. Thank you all. read more

I would give them a zero if I could. DON'T use them!! There are other, more honest companies out there! They will charge you to open an account, charge you fees, and prevent you from closing your account when you find out you can't get anything done with them, so that they can keep charging you their fees. They drag their feet when you need their service to provide a "Proof of Funds" letter to buy an investment property. You will most probably lose the investment opportunity if it is in an area where there is competition because others will be able to get it done more quickly. They will then charge your account their fees even though no service is provided. When I asked to close my account, they took 2 years before they even responded to my email with instructions. When I would call them asking why my account was still open, they would argue with me but would refuse to send me instructions for how to close the account. Finally, 2 years later, they responded to my original email with instructions, which required PIN numbers that had long expired, documents I could not provide, and made the process so difficult that even my new custodian company couldn't understand what they were asking for. By the way, they send you the PIN numbers less often than once/year and they expire after 3 months, so good luck getting anything done. It has been VERY difficult to close the account. It's now 3 years since I tried to close this account and they have taken well over $1000 of my IRA money during that time even though they have done nothing for me but drag their feet. read more

UDirect, We Obstruct (that's what I call them now) is my second administrator after some years with Equity Trust (Sterling). My first few years with UDirect went well, but during the last transaction, the company was obstructionist in every way. They insisted that they did not have title, despite my filing the Substitution of Trustee form as required when no actual sale has occurred. UDirect told me I would have get a quit claim from Sterling, with whom I had cut ties five years prior, and that Assessors offices don't do recordings. They do in San Francisco - which is a City and a County. I checked with them every step of the way at the time of custodian change and afterwards. When I called to explain that American Estate and Trust did indeed have title, a manager told me "Only you are responsible for processing all of the correct paperwork. That's why they call it Self Directed". Insulting. Absolutely insulting. I finally had to get the vice president of the escrow company to rewrite their preliminary title report, because HE understood the difference between a substitution of trustee/custodian and a real estate sales transaction. UDirect demanded that the entire Sales Contract be voided rather than amended, because according to them, the owner of the Self Directed IRA was not allowed to sign it, only them, and they had changed the way they liked things vested, so that that had to be done again, too. Then everybody had to sign their brand new form (wasn't required 6 months ago) absolving UDirect of ANY responsibility for ANYTHING. It took a month and a half, and was excruciating all the way through. We are actively shopping for a new administrator and a new custodian. read more

I changed to uDirect at the beginning of this year and am very pleased with all the staff including Jeff, Derexa and Mark that I have worked with so far. I was with a trust company in Houston and their fees were quite high and difficult to find the right person to answer questions and process transactions. The transfer of investments is in process and almost complete. uDirect has made this as easy as possible and I am so pleased I made the change. read more

1st, the concept of a self directed IRA is a good one. I was able to invest in residential real estate at a great time. As far as U-Direct goes, they are somewhere between useless and dangerous. I am still with them because changing would be a big expense and hassle. Once your in, it is almost impossible to get out cleanly. U-direct is simply a marketing company and middleman. It would probably be better to go direct with American Estate and Trust or find another self directed custodian who is NOT a middleman. My expectations are so low that I am thrilled when I actually get an answer to a question without a bunch of deflection and BS, which is very rare. read more

I would not use this service again for several reasons: 1. when I tried to invest in real estate, they were very slow. They told me that once I put a contract on an investment property, they will review it, which will take several days, and only then will they send me the funds for the escrow deposit. This caused me to lose all contracts that I put on houses, as the sellers were never willing to wait for several days for the escrow deposit. 2. I asked them to close my account, but they ignored my request. They were supposed to send me paperwork for transferring my money elsewhere, but they never did. When I kept speaking to them about it, they always denied knowing anything about me asking to close the account, the manager refused to return my calls, and they deny that I have left messages. 3. Two years have passed, and they continue to charge my account for fees despite providing NO service. They make it very difficult to actually close the account so that they can continue to charge fees. 4. I am also concerned about investing with this company because some of these strategies seem to be against IRA rules and could subject me to losing my entire IRA. Several CPAs, including mine, have advised me against using my IRA in this manner and have pointed to court cases in which even CPAs and attorneys have been found to be using their IRA funds against IRA rules and have lost their entire IRAs. read more

Over the years U-directIRA has been a real help in getting my retirement steps in order. Derexa Anstead has been consistently helpful, thorough and quick in getting the right things done in the right way, along with a pleasant sense of humor. All the staff have operated with courtesy and accuracy. I heartily recommend them for professional and complete service. read more

THE WORST bar none. Based on my own experience with uDirect and complaints I've received from multiple clients who have/had accounts at uDirect, I would advise steering clear of this trainwreck. At least they get a star for picking up the phone, responding to emails, and not being the most expensive option. As an experienced investment professional, I've dealt with most of the major IRA custodians on the market, and while some are easy to deal with and some not so much, uDirect has by far been the worst experience time and time again. Something seems wrong when a company is yelling at senior citizens for calling uDirect's parent company to check on the status of their account (after receiving no response from uDirect), or when the company resorts to what is essentially extortion to squeeze more fees out of clients. Imagine your bank getting robbed and then your bank repeatedly charging you fees because your account balance was now zero. Seems crazy, right? Think again! read more

uDirect IRA Services had assisted many of our clients with taking control of their retirement investing. Kaaren Hall and her team are always helpful in answering our client's questions and really take the time to make sure the client understands the do's and don'ts when it comes to using retirement accounts for real estate and other alternative assets. They also have many educational events that occur throughout the year where they go above and beyond to make sure that clients understand the latest in retirement investing. You can't go wrong with having uDirect on your team! read more

See other reviews with 1 star. Totally agreed. These guys have no idea on how to use technology. So what ended is a mixed bag of bad technology usage (very bad implementation) and their bad internal process.GOOD luck in trying to move the money back out !!! IT TOOK WEEKS ( actually more like 6 weeks). With stupid "SELFIE picture ID":yes this is what I was asked to do! And a whole lot of forms to upload to their website which does not work most of the time. Imagine a 3 way conversations. You+Udirectira+and your other Self-Directed companyX. Add to the mix, UdirectIra and CpmapnyX's backoffice way of doing things may be totally in conflict with companyX. In almost all cases, UdirectIRA has some really clumsy way of doing things. Example: SELFIE ID, hand-signature forms from COMPANYX and you to be uploaded to their website etc (try getting companyX to do that -- GOOD LUCK) ... VERY PAINFUL process. read more

I have been giving advice to people on the do's and dont's of self directed IRAs for almost 10 years. I've worked with a range of custodians and believe uDirect has the best combination of service and fees. They have always been kind to work with and Kaaren and her staff are a wealth of knowledge. I have assisted with dozens of transactions over the years through uDirect/American Estate and Trust. I've never had a problem getting an ALLOWED transaction approved and funded. After reading through some of the other reviews, my guess is people having a negative experience getting an investment funded were probably trying to invest in something that was borderline prohibited and uDirect disallowed it. Get good advice on what you can and can't do with your IRA funds, than open an account with uDirect and get started! read more

I've been a client of UDirectIRA for many years and received excellent service. After signing up and seeing the level of service, I have moved several other retirement account to Udirect. Eric and Kaaren are always there to help out. Thank you for the help. read more

I've been a customer with UDirect IRA services for several years now. I have had such a positive experience, especially with Kathy Werry, that I've referred several family members to their services. read more

I am a CPA and have worked with uDirect IRA Services with hundreds of clients over the last 5+ years and their administrative structure as well as fee structure is always amazing. They email back and communicate timely and are very professional if the paperwork was not submitted properly by the client and really provide top notch service. I have read a few of the other reviews and after reading the detail, they are completely mis-understanding what a self directed IRA company does. They are not financial advisors, nor can they give financial or investment advice. They strictly provide a place where you can hold your funds so that you can direct it into an investment of your choosing instead of having to invest in the typical stocks, bonds and mutual funds the traditional IRA companies only allow you to invest in. There are rules on investment types and prohibited transactions that many investors, especially when they are initially taking control of their own investing, do not have a full grasp over. So they dis-credit the IRA company because they cannot invest in what they want when they should have done their homework up front. People complained about the fees when its one of the lowest annual fees in the industry along with the minor setup fee. Way below 99% of the other custodians and traditional IRA companies as well. Again, I have worked with them 100's of times and there are of course limits on any investment, but I have had nothing but amazing service and the highest level of integrity I have dealt with in this industry. Mathew Owens, CPA read more

I've worked with uDirect on several transactions over the past several years. The thing I appreciate the most has been the ability to interact with someone personally at the company any time I need anything or have a question, particularly Kathy and David who have been my main points of contact. I appreciate their quick and efficient responsiveness! read more

uDirect is the best customer-oriented option for your self-directed IRA. I enjoyed my interaction with every member of their team. I received help and quick responses at every step. It was a great experience, I cannot recommend uDirect enough. read more

I have had nothing but hassles with this company. Instead of doing everything possible to assist their customers they keep asking for more useless information. I highly recommend that you look elsewhere for a self-directed IRA custodian. read more

Kaaren Hall is the most kind, responsive, and customer focused IRA custodian I've worked with in the 10+ years I've been investing. UDirect actually administered my Self Directed Roth for several years when I changed to Pensco because a business partner required Pensco to administer a deal we were doing at the time. Long story short, it was a nightmare of a decision that cost me thousands of dollars and I couldn't get back to UDirect fast enough! Investing with your IRA can be very powerful, but you have to work with a company who is in it for you and will go to bat for you. There is no other company I will trust to invest my IRA money than UDirect. read more

I have had amazing service here. I bought a house with an old IRA and they provide instant service! I am so impressed with this place. They have good advice and service! Love this place!!! Love the opportunity to self direct! read more

We are in our 4th month with UDirect. We are desperately trying to get my husbands retirement account away from them. Theyve done nothing except give us grief, failing to be able to perform after having our money for months. Then, at a critical moment, the all the sudden can't do business in our state because the story is the party they are associated with is deemed unwanted in by the State! Wow. At least that is what we were told. So, we had to scramble to get a new, and imo much better TPA. I also couldn't find that their principal is registered with FINRA or the state. At least that is what FINRA said. Aren't they suppsoed to be registered? In any event, please beware of these folks. They talk really nice when they want your money. Then, when they get it, good luck getting them to perform. WIsh us luck. If we don't get our money by the morrow, we were told by the State of California Business Matters department to file a claim with the State Attorney General. Scary, huh? Our experience was bad bad bad. Why no negative star rating. Making me give 1 star. I say MINUS 4. read more

I've been with uDirect for about 2 years. They have done a great job of stepping up and getting investment documentation done under short turnaround times. Good people. read more

Jennifer and Derexa are phenomenal! My wife and I are new to setting up SDIRA and they were extremely helpful and patient in walking us through the process. I must've called them eight times on one Friday afternoon, and they guided me through the whole process. I was a bit concerned after reading some mixed reviews here, but have had fantastic service from them so far! read more

I've loved working with uDirect for the past three years. They have awesome customer service and exceptionally competitive pricing. I find that they process and fund my new investment requests several days faster than other SDIRA companies. As an investor, faster processing means my money is going to work faster and earning more. The uDirect direction of investment process also requires a lot less paperwork. Less hassle is a very good thing! I've recommended this company to lots of friends and they've all had a fantastic experience. read more

Have had many issues with this company and finally moved my account. Nice people but they really don't know what they're doing. Not a place I would recommend. read more

I Hate UDirect! I've had an account with them since 2009 and they are nothing but stupidly troublesome. After years of having status quo and not making any significant changes, I have now received so many Account pins that I have to use to log in to my account that nothing appears to be current. And, get this, to change my account service fees from being automatically deducted from my account to a normal billing, I have to sign and send in a form. I can't just change it online (once I do get access to the stupid account). Or, to change my address, I need to get a notary signature on an address change form. No one else in the global US needed that for all of my other accounts, just UDirect. For even better fees and far less hassle - go to NuView IRA to get the same or better products/services. This year, it's worth the fees to terminate this account and switch to NuView. read more