Once you have a grasp of that, you have a concrete goal to work towards, and that should shape how you invest.  

I wonder if some of you on here feel you have a good grasp on the logic, and if you do, do you think it's fair overall?

I keep reading about terms like self-directed IRA, solo 401k, checkbook IRA, etc, and I am trying to get a grasp on what they all mean.My question is, has anyone taken an old 401k, rolled it into something like what I mention in the last paragraph, and went on to invest in real estate using those funds?

Keep looking at notes until you get a general grasp of what happened and what you might be able to do with it.

There COULD be forced appreciation, as that tends to happen when you buy early in a new development, but never a guarantee of it, so view it as a bonus and not a motivation.I'm not familiar with that particular market so I'd just say make sure the demand is there and have a firm grasp of what sort of revenue is reasonable to expect.  

To really grasp this you'll want to understand this key aspect of real estate:  A single family home is one product and multi-family (5 units or more) is a totally different product.   

(RI home would be rented for a year at that point) I’m new to the BRRRR strategy and the biggest hurdle for me to grasp is the refinance part.

After you've watched a dozen of these from each person, you should have a pretty good grasp.

I'm beginning to suspect your CPA doesn't have a good (or even fair) grasp of the passive activity loss rules...

Get a good grasp for how loans work, how credit works, how to budget, etc.Also, I don't know how attached you are to where you currently live.