That said, I'm sure you hope to live to be 59 and older, and having a big fat pile of tax sheltered income to draw from at that point in time would be a benefit, even if you have done other things to allow you to leave the rat race at an earlier age.With a self-directed IRA, you can diversify any existing savings into real estate and potentially get better results than investing in conventional financial products.  

What you'll get is a fat legal fee from some sleazey attorney, but your house still won't be sold.Third issue you raise:  option money is nonrefundable, period.  

Sometimes (like now) the deals aren't that fat.

However let’s not forget that the fat cats in Washington D.C. and beyond are the ones that created it, not me.

This is currently the track we're on which wouldn't be possible if we saddled ourselves with a fat mortgage payment not to mention having to save for the down payment.

A big fat W-2 will help you get good loans for your first few deals, and also you can always house hack.

This is something I call "The fat cat syndrome".

Pigs get fat, Hogs get Slaughtered"  - This is true over and over again, so when you meet a Hog, don't worry, his or her day of reckoning will come.  

I was trying to when I fat fingered it and hit post. :-)But in AZ there seems to be additional effort or cost associated with signing a warranty deed vs a quitclaim deed.

I have a 25 ft fat Max one in every vehicle I own.