That's why many businesses just close instead of being sold.Real estate investing provides a lot more creative angles than the stock market, but on a conceptual level, nobody would seriously attempt to replace their W2 income in a few years by investing a few thousand dollars in the stock market.

Land is also scarce, so a SFH in such a dense and popular spot will be rare and expensive.Also as David mentioned, land retains its value but structures are generally thought to depreciate to zero over 25 years.

If this is not something you're interested in delving into and learning to a high degree, then investing in publicly traded REITs would be another good option for you, which have historically returned about 13.5 per cent Per year over the past 50 years (1977-present), beating the US stock market by two per cent and even beating private real estate investing by 4 per cent (that's compared with the average real estate investor, not the experts here at Bigger Pockets).

I held each until a change in either market price or net asset value resulted in the REIT stock discount being lowered by 30%.  

Too often, I just hear people say they are "looking for a good deal", but defining that good deal in a specific area makes it much easier to spot. 

Now to all the people that want to criticize the 9% saying i should have just kept it in the stock market and i would have had the same results, not so fast.Now I can 1031 exchange into a property worth triple the value with no cap gains tax. 

What @Anna Sagatelova said about Cleveland properties is also true in Akron. 90% of the housing stock in the city of Akron was built before 1970 and there are quite a number of really fine A++ older homes especially in west Akron.

Quote from @Ryan Daulton: Since learning that cash flow from real estate that was purchased from self-directed IRAs is taxed, and that I would not be able to claim depreciation on this property, what are the advantages to buying real estate with self-directed IRAs vs. other investment types like stocks and mutual funds?  

Bigger Pockets is definitely the right spot to get started. 

. @ Dan Rowley, your advice is so simple but spot on.