You might want to check BBB listings too - are they accredited, what is their rating, etc.Generally an older, more established custodian with thousands of accounts and many millions if not billions of alt assets under management will be a more stable company, more familiar with the IRS rules and regulations regarding Self-Directed IRA investing do's and don'ts.

It's clumsy but we're also not a billion dollar company so, it is what is.  

Look for Texas based banks with fewer than 40 branches and assets below $5 billion.  

When people say I live in "LA"  it could mean a billion different locales.  

The pending Bill would increase the lending limit of this program from $18.75 billion to $23.5 billion.

Contrary to popular belief, and the fact that they loan billions of dollars on real estate, banks know nothing about real estate.

Just the other day i over heard some news from CNN,Forbes,Wall street Journal,and one of my favorite real estate gurus Preston Ely, witch stated that numerous large corporations and ceo's have set aside billions of dolors to plan on buying up millions of foreclosed properties in very large bulk in one swoop across the US with in the next 12-24 months.

I have not seen many billion dollar RE companies hashing things out on BP  :)

Houston August Housing StatsHighlights: Single-family home sales edged up a fractional 0.6 percent versus August 2014;Total property sales were flat year-over-year at 8,836 units;Total dollar volume increased 2.6 percent to $2.4 billion;At $282,233, the single-family home average price reached a record high for an August;At $215,100, the single-family home median price also achieved a record August high;Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.5-months supply;Single family home leases were up 4.5 percent while townhome/condominium leases rose 10.0 percent with average rents up year-over-year.

Since then, billions of dollars have been made in real estate, property value has far surpassed the height of the 2008 market and the rental market has increased substantially.