I lost money for many years in real estate, while my friends were enjoying life with their savings.

@Kegan SchollI am partial to Florida given I live here but I have house hacked for the past 6 years and it fundamentally changed my life, you are on a great path for success.

If the pipe is 50 years old and had a life expectancy of 30 years, they're going to argue it was due to lack of care on your part and try to deny the claim. 

Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.3.

There are always "hiccups" in life and in real estate investing.

I want to utilize my arbitrage to obviously use for my personal life but also to create a hefty fund for investment properties later on the line. 

According to Tom Cruz hereafter referred to as DB, I wasted 31 years of my life training to become an ortho surgeon but the DB doesn't understand some people enjoy their jobs and are passionate about helping other people. 

Life goes on. 

Actually the IRS does not tell us what we can invest in, only what is disallowed (life insurance contracts and collectibles).Allowable investments for SDIRA investing include the following:Residential real estate, including: apartments, single family homes, and duplexesCommercial real estate Undeveloped or raw landREITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts)Real estate notes (mortgages and deeds of trusts)Promissory notes Private limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and C corporationsTax lien certificatesOil and gas investmentsPrivate stock offerings, private placementsJudgments/structured settlementsGold bullion Factoring investments

They are trying very hard to make life impossible for the small guy.