I self manage 29 SFR and do all my taxes on turbo tax.

You're in the business of flipping houses, so any self-employment taxes on the ordinary income most likely aren't being calculated in QB. 

Primarily self limiting beliefs.One of my clients just closed on their first commercial deal and they only had one duplex before I started working with them. 

You can also sell them on sites like paperstac, debexpert or others as well as brokers like Mission Capital, Rams or Phoenix.Depending on quality of paper and interest rate will determine sales price - also I would say self servicing can have a negative impact on the sales price as the major players in the space are not fond of self servicing. 

Is using a self-direct IRA to fund this venture a way to defer taxes until retirement ?

The last one we paid cash for and self-funded the improvements too.

And might be everyone, like your employee, your mother, your friend or even yourself.Human is, and will always be, the weakest link of your defense line.

25 y/o and in the process of being a self taught real estate investor.

As long as you have the self discipline to not raid that reserve for fun and pleasure, go for it.

I have a few reasons for this. 1) We are both self-employed and our income is inconsistent. 2) We don't want to impact our DTI, because we are planning on buying a house hack within the next year or so.We would be open to going up to 6 units for our first property as long as it's within budget.Now that you have some context, is it possible for a rookie to use a DSCR loan on a duplex or triplex?