@Joe HermansonIf you can get better results for your IRA investing in real estate than you can in conventional investments, then yes, it is very much worth it.The self-directed IRA itself is just a tool. 

(https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/canine-corner/201405/14-dog-breeds-blacklisted-insurance-companies) Are they employed?

Anyone you can in your area.

You can jack up your net income and then have a bigger tax bill come tax time.Or you can minimize your net income and have a big fat tax refund come tax time.Valid point about effectively option B being an "interest free loan" to the gov't, but other than that you're not going to make or lose any money either way.

Just wanting to get the most out of it by house hacking and keeping as much as I can in my pocket.

He came prepared with a fat money pouch of cashiers checks.

The guest denied having a cat, called me "literally insane", and so I asked if she ate cat food often, since there was an empty can in the trash.

No one can do my job as well as I can in my opinion. 

So by the time a broker prices to be competitive for "jumbo" loans (where retail banks typically have the thinnest profit margins, to win the business of the 800 FICO $2.5m price 30% down people they can later cross sell other financial services to), that same thin margin by law must also be the margin on FHA/VA, where retail banks by contrast generally have the fattest profit margins (a factor of 3 is not unheard of).Being a veteran and seeing that giant fat profit margin on VA for my fellow veterans, and figuring all this out, was part of why I made the switch.

I'm currently working on my personal finances while learning as much as I can in preparation for investing  in the future.