That's precisely it Chris.

Then you want to take 25% of the remaining equity, and I'm left w/ barely over 2/3 of my investment (67.5%, to be precise) left working for me before you've created any significant value.    

Since this concerns your retirement, I personally would not 1031 exchange into an investment vehicle that you do not fully control yourself.

Agree with @Brent Coombs and @Joe Villeneuve, easy to manipulate those numbers and those rules are really just a for a fast analysis of a property. you are better off doing your due diligence and running all your numbers. after researching the area market and running the numbers, the main area i like to focus on is the COC return. the COC will tell you how much you will earn based on how much you invest in the property, just like any other investment vehicle out there but with Real Estate you can earn money in different ways, not just not like an interest bearing account or stock market where you hope the stock will rise in value.

or should we open a Self Directed IRA and use that as a vehicle?

For example I have managed 13,000 vehicles in fleets and millions of dollars in other assets.

I hope to use REI as a vehicle to teach them about the value of hard work, money management, and investing ... my thought that these lessons will be much more valuable than the assets themselves.

I feel like I have a good idea of what to do to start my buy and hold strategy, now I just need to execute with precision.

I would suggest your decision to join a REIA is similar to buying a new vehicle.

I, like many others here, see real estate as a vehicle to provide for my family for many years to come, while allowing me to spend quality time with my family.