This comes from several data points, the first being the average age at which people are choosing to stop renting and buy their first home.

I'd suggest you ask as many questions as you can, there are a ton of people on here who are knowledgeable in many subjects. 

Many people choose NOT to have this, because the administrator will then vet every investment you make to ensure you do not invalidate your IRA.Invalidating your IRA means that you've done a prohibited transaction and the entire account is then deemed as distributed to you.If you don't want checkbook control, then I recommend a plan administrator such as Equity Trust - www.trustetc.comIf you are sure that you're aware of all the rules around prohibited transactions and disqualified people (who you can and can't do business with), then a plan administrator like Sense Financial would be a good place to start talking.  

I’ve been coaching new investors for a while, and I always enjoy hearing about what brings people to real estate.

Is this how it works, wanted to know from people who have their star’s managed my property management company?

Starting to get competitive though for investment properties because of that reason you have more and more people entering the market from out of state.

I've seen a lot of people mentioning reading books and soaking up knowledge to start.

if you buy a random property on Zillow and turn it over to people you have never met, you will very likely lose money, get frustrated, and set yourself back.if you're serious i'd pick a market and plan on making several trips there. 

Thank you to the people that come forward and post about the bad and not just the good.

I'm doing this exact thing right now- I've been pleasantly surprised by how many people in my network have resources, cash and interest in something like this.