It also excludes other investment goals like appreciation that some people might have.Looking purely at cash flow though, I think the x % rule it is a great way to compare apples to apples.

The most common structures I've seen are either pure debt offerings or preferred equity offerings where investors are paid a predetermined return before the sponsor receives any profit.  

we change locks and check smoke detectors and put new batteries in them. 

Any such investing has to be done entirely at arm's length and purely for the benefit of the retirement plan, so you could not use this for your own property or to generate income for yourselves - other than taxable distributions from the IRA after age 59 1/2.There is a lot of good information here on BP about the general concept of these plans.  

It was purely for background.

Being a bully forcing the seller to do all the repairs that you need to do, all the costs of closing, and how the house needs all this work it’s not that attractive right now, this might work if you are purely wholesaling, but doesn’t make you feel very good as a business operator.I like to use these 3 techniques right in a row….

If it's purely cosmetic, I'd be more incline to tell tenant to pay for it or say NO all together.

What this effectively would tell me and the argument I would want my attorney to make is that you did this purely to establish a higher degree of anonymity from you tenant, but never actually had the intentions of running a separate business entity. 

They are all slightly different...some pure networking, some educational, etc. 

We are arguably the BEST or one of the best Rental markets and pure Cash Flow plays in the USA.