I have run into similar situations and I always am careful to never work for someone like that again.  

Use careful selection of rental property purchases to generate cash flow with which to pay your student debt.

As the 203k is still a branch of an FHA loan.

First things first - u're a landlord now, so you must choose your words more carefully.  

So, I guess I am a bit of an investor, but I'd like to be more involved in the industry.  

I have an example of an early one on my BP Blog. 

The IRA can purchase materials and labor separately.What you would want to be careful of, however, is that you personally do not become a delivery boy for the project.  

Just be careful about charging a monthly fee.  

@Ray P.Be careful with phrases like "promissory note to myself" relative to using a SD IRA...typically you cannot directly benefit personally when using a SDIRA, all transactions have to be done in the IRAs name.With 15 K, I would probably:- Leave it, invest it as best you could with stocks.

Buy nice properties, keep them up, and rent to better tenants that care!