And your money is Trapped inside your house. 

Market Appreciation is the least predictable, but historically, where you will make the most money.

Of course we all want to make money and care for four families.

If they want your money, @Pavan K., why aren’t they offering you a stake in the partnership?

However since this is our first rental, we are getting cold feet and suspicion that it might be a money pit or go wrong drastically.

You spend a lot of time and money having people do this work, and at the end of the day you don't net any more income compared to a long term rental.

Often, I am not able to keep all of my ira funds invested in active loans so I would like to be able to keep the money that is not invested in loans in a liquid "money market" type of fund on a temporary basis.

If you have to talk about your money, you don't have money!

You can also hold money for maintenance, capex, taxes, insurance, or other projected expenses.

I think you save money by using a good accounting program-no matter which one--because you have instrumentation to watch your income and expenses and because you're less likely to lose deductions.