If they insist, I would make it clear, absolutely, 100% crystal no-misunderstanding clear, that you will NOT sign any personal guarantee on the loan under any circumstances, and if you get to the closing table and they stick one in front of you and tell you sign it or you lose the deal/deposit, you will walk away from that closing table.The reason I say this is that a number of SDIRA owners in the past have had exactly that happen, they thought it was non-recourse and then at the closing table were asked to sign a personal guarantee, and some of them did.BAM - that counts as "extending credit" to your IRA, which is a prohibited transaction, and my understanding is the IRS considers your whole IRA distributed at that point - and then proceeds to assess penalties and taxes accordingly.There are 1000 different ways to shoot yourself in the foot with SD IRAs, they are powerful but very tricky to get right, and the penalty for making a mistake can potentially be a lot of your retirement savings. 

People often ask for advice on here from a place of misunderstanding but from your post your asking people to help you either create the work around through the laws or to help you notice thing you haven't seen about getting caught.

People misunderstand the statement “Houston has no zoning”.

As Mike might say they do so because they misunderstand how to buy so they can not afford to hire a PM.

It really helps to have a lease even with a friend in order to avoid any misunderstandings. 

@Janea Crum Maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean by AirBnB arbitrage, but to @Dave Stokley point, if I want to invest in Phoenix or Scottsdale (which I might like) and I live far away (which I do) I would like an STR partner to do all the STR-work, for let's say 20% or maybe 25% of the gross rent.I would want for the person to be local and have some experience in renting STR at least her own place, ideally also including a few rental/investment properties.

Insurance also doesn’t protect you from misunderstandings, especially those made in writing and email.

Insurance also doesn’t protect you from misunderstandings, especially those made in writing and email.

I'm probably misunderstanding but you might want to get in touch with a local GC and architect to give you an overview of what your projected costs might be.The forums are great for pointing you in the right direction, but there are NYC ZOLA (Zoning and Land Use Application) configurations to keep in mind as well.

I have a blank lease and no, it was not a misunderstanding, I asked for the current leases that the tenants signed.