Actually the IRS does not tell us what we can invest in, only what is disallowed (life insurance contracts and collectibles).Allowable investments for SDIRA investing include the following:Residential real estate, including: apartments, single family homes, and duplexesCommercial real estate Undeveloped or raw landREITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts)Real estate notes (mortgages and deeds of trusts)Promissory notes Private limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and C corporationsTax lien certificatesOil and gas investmentsPrivate stock offerings, private placementsJudgments/structured settlementsGold bullion Factoring investments

Here are the numbers:$30k - avg monthly income3 options for rent vs buying$12.5k - avg monthly payment (20% down) on $2mil home$6.25k - avg monthly rent on $2mil home$6.25k - avg monthly payment (71.5% down) on $2mil home3 options for return on capital:7% - avg yearly return on 71.5% down payment (assuming 5% avg yearly appreciation in SD)10% - avg yearly return on from S&P 500>10% - avg yearly return on investment property (just an assumption, but I think you are all here because you beat the stock market)First, the $12.5k monthly is very intimidating and beyond what I should be spending on shelter (a no-go for me)

What @Anna Sagatelova said about Cleveland properties is also true in Akron. 90% of the housing stock in the city of Akron was built before 1970 and there are quite a number of really fine A++ older homes especially in west Akron.

The results are people who don’t know that their stock picks can go down as well as up; who think that the ‘stock market” guarantees a 15% annual yield; who don’t have any concept of risk, or it’s relationship with return; and who believe that the intrinsic value of an investment is somehow directly related to its last 12 month pricing movement.  

I'm sure some can predict what's going to happen (much like the stock market), but no one really knows for sure.  

Real estate is one of the best mind-sharpening exercises in the investment world simply because getting it wrong there is no stock liquidation or quick way out.

So the Janitor usually wins, defined as making more passive income than your expenses, because his expenses start off so low and stay low.Unfortunately, after you play it a while, you get to know what to look for, like when that one stock becomes available for, I forget, $3 or something ...

Seeing 9-10% return On Paper, I couldn’t help but connect to the long term RoI of stocks.

Audrey - Dave might disagree or add more context, but I think that predicting 5-year rent growth is a bit like forecasting the stock market 5 years from now. 

I can "cash flow" more from my stocks/index funds and high yield savings account with far less stress.