You have to craft the lease for what makes sense for you as the buyer.You need to have the owner offering the sale leaseback to have a recent inspection,survey, and phase one report performed on the property available to you.Stay away from short primary term leases with a bunch of options.

When you start out you definitely have to put in a lot of time learning the craft.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/ Sounds like your headed in the right direction and have the time to dedicate to your craft.  

I'm hoping real estate sales can be a viable supplement for my current income.I work part-time as a lab tech for a small cosmetics R&D lab in NJ, and have a little soap crafting business on the side.

In this format, the IRA itself makes a single investment into a specially crafted LLC, and you can then manage the LLC to direct investment activities yourself out of a checking account of your choosing.Lots of good information here on BP both on the topic of private lending and the necessary diligence you want to perform, and the self-directed IRA options.

Like a student of any trade craft, even as an apprentice you should have some basic skills above that of a layperson.  

People who stick around in the profession do it for the love of the craft.

I have a tenant that makes wreaths and sells them at craft shows.

There are about 33% more for their plastic then I am for my craft.

The ones that are in the top 5 to 10% tend to have great follow up even after the transaction and are constantly learning to get better at their craft.15 years in the business I have seen many companies come and go.