Ultimately, having a guarantor offers added peace of mind.

(Also, the self-directed inherited IRA could hold the real estate it purchases in an LLC.)True, you can't get the special benefits available to a surviving spouse who inherits their spouse's IRA -- e.g., treating the IRA as their own, doing a "spousal rollover" to a new account, and not being required to take minimum distributions until their required beginning date.

I have two kids under 1.5 years old, work 50-60 hours a week, and I’m in the military part time, so it’s ultimately a lot to keep track of and I want to set myself up for success and not screw myself in the long run. 

Make the counter offer, see what they say, but ultimately, if they tell you the same thing they’ve been telling almost everyone else, then my suggestion would be to just buy it.

Ultimately, I want our investments to cover all of our expenses.

Lance If you're looking at Cleveland the 1st place you want to start your research is going to be reading The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods.

Ultimately, a mix of these strategies is probably going to be your best path forward.

But ultimately this could fail and I could have to move back to KY.

The numbers" from a cashflow standpoint will mean different things for different people.Personally, I won't get out of bed unless I can earn a 15% net cashflow ROI yearly on any deal.Any appreciation I consider just the cherry on top.Granted, I wouldn't complain if I had some major appreciation on any rental since the time I started investing in 2011.Also, you can't really live/survive off the appreciation unless you tap into a HELOC.You can however always live/survive of the cashflow.Just my opinion.Thanks 

I recommend using an A-B grading scale like you see in The Ultimate Guide to Grading Cleveland Neighborhoods to set the parameters of what it is you are looking for.