He's gotten to the point that there so many millions that he just pays himself a salary via points off of the pool of funds (to the tune of 300k+) and pays out surprise bonus's to the lenders based of the profits of the properties, so they make even more than expected.

Get a good agent that knows the listing agent...bonus points if they are the listing agent.

I had one client who hired the adjuster just because of that and took the chance of an increased settlement as a bonus. 

You may need to do a few BT to get to $30k- apply for fee new cards with sign up bonus and 0% interest promo that way, you can fund most of your rehab and reward yourself with free travel after you complete your project- get HELOC if you have enough equity in your house- re-finance your car if it’s paid off and pay it off after the project is done (Penfed sends you a check for a car)- apply for Business Loan if you have business

I bought a single family with an unfinished basement and am in process of transforming it into a duplex.

Bonus question: 😁FAFSA (federal student aid application) excludes balances of 401K and IRA, so if the real estate bought and rented out by SDIRA were an asset of the SDIRA, I am hoping the asset would then be excluded from the FAFSA calculation.

I think the best advice is to find something you are comfortable with today and if it appreciates over time you have a nice added bonus.

I thought it would be beneficial to learn even more, plus gain the ability to tour houses and make offers without a middle-man... if I can make some money on the side helping other buy/sell, that's a bonus too.

  ( if less than 50%, cannot use section 179 expense, but can use a  bonus depreciation) You can either claim a bonus depreciation or a section 179 depreciation.

I'm in a position where I can leave my job and live for a bit on a pretty decent bonus.