Having someone who can coach me along the way in this process would be very instrumental for my success.  

If your active duty and get deployed maybe you can rent it or if property becomes unsuitable because of growing family or disability maybe you can rent it.

I'm in a unique situation because over the past 8 years we've grown our net cash flow to appx $6k per month in rentals and another $3k in other instruments.

A mutual fund might hold stocks, bonds, real estate, commodities, futures, options, cash, precious metals, etc.If your time horizon is 2 years or less I do not recommend putting your money into anything other than cash instruments.

I am currently looking at another property to lease and then AirBnb out, and she has been instrumental in her encouragement. 

If I may ask, what's your primary instrument?

Most title companies can deal with doc prep on the note and security instrument.  

“At least one borrower must occupy the property and sign the security instrument and the mortgage note for the property to be considered owner-occupied.”I lived in all of the properties I bought with FHA Loans but a good friend of mine and his wife used this method to buy many quadplexs over the years.

By custom, the buyer and seller split the cost.Before a deed, security instrument, or other writing can be recorded in the office of the clerk of the superior court, the real estate transfer tax must be paid.

This is with a baseline of cash set aside for each property to make sure I am prepared for repairs and capex.Put more succinctly, when I look at the 401k I see 3 options:Keep it in 401k/IRA, in stocksUnpredictable return, with little real controlKeep tax deferred benefitsCannot use without penalty for 30 yearsRoll over to SDIRAMore control over return, more stable instruments are availableKeep tax deferred benefitsFairly limited on vehicles that I can use due to leverage being (in my analysis) untenableCannot use without penalty for 30 yearsCash out, invest in cash-flowing rentalsMore control over return, more stable instrumentTake a big tax / penalty hit nowTaxed on gains each yearMost flexibility on what vehicles I can invest inCan build rental portfolio more quickly (more to begin with, plus quicker path to use proceeds for new properties)Can access these funds for "retirement" without relying on an arbitrary legal ageI can show some more detailed numbers if you think it'll be helpful, but even if you take my analysis at face value, I'd love thoughts on the options I'm considering.