I paused from my work to engage him in conversation.

to quote the movie "the rules are more like guide lines anyway".Their value is at the boundaries; being too low or too high and you should pause to ponder "what did I leave out, misunderstand, or is this truly a bad deal" and that's the root of your question.  

What gives me pause is the idea of taking on another payment when I really need to be able to depend on that cash flow income for a little while.

It seems like the frantic rush to build and buy has taken a bit of a pause post-election which could be an indication of a nervous industry.  

I'm a newbie who is about to jump head-first into this real estate world, and had to pause for a moment to ask a very important question. 

We are pausing on the deals until we get one of our houses sold.But those changes are minor portfolio adjustments, the main thesis is still there, we will continue to invest in any great deal we can find where we can conservatively have enough money available to do the deal.  .Best of luck to you.

The cost alone is worth taking pause.  

However, given the advantages of a Solo 401k over a Self-Directed IRA - no need for a custodian, the ability to receive debt financing on real estate acquisitions and not pay UDFI, and the ability to make loans to myself if necessary, to name 3 - have given me pause whether the Self-Directed IRA is the way to go.  

Over the weekend I was working on my family's home and saw something that made me pause in the middle of pulling weeds.

We were going to pick up a house each year, but after we picked up our properties in 1982-1984, we paused, rest up, and the market crashed in 1986.