You can not mix your IRA with your personal investments/finances, IRS rules prohibit that.

On the other hand, another expert thinks it would be cost prohibitive to find and keep good tenants, even if I fixed it up completely to current standards for the area based on the location. 

The setup and maintenance costs will be prohibitive and eat up any potential differential in returns that you may be able to generate in real estate as opposed to other IRA investments.

Compared to an IRA, Solo 401k contributions limits are roughly ten times higher.There is no custodial requirement for the 401k.You don't need the additional expense and administration of an LLC to have checkbook control.You can borrow up to $50k from the plan; IRAs do not allow for participant loansThere is a built in-Roth component whereas IRAs are either traditional or Roth, not both.A spouse can also participate in the same Solo 401k plan.The Solo 401k has additional tax benefits over an IRA when investing into real estate using leverage.The penalties for prohibited transactions are less severe, though it's best not to utilize this benefit :)

I understand it's an auction - but do the reserve prices prohibit turning a good profit? 

Another idea is to only refinish the staircase and cover the rest of the hardwoods with floating vinyl plank - we have done this in cases when it was cost prohibitive to refinish (due to required patching).

Pools should be prohibited in the agreement.- Where you can get utilities seperately metered, offer annual rebates if they keep their utility costs low, and annual increases for utility costs above average. 

Because of the prohibited transaction rules, doing so could be a violation of the rules, or at the very least, would limit your flexibility with the investment and increase the chances of a prohibited transaction occurring after the investment is made.Here are some alternatives to commingling the assets: using the Solo participant loan feature to do the deal outside of retirement funds using non-recourse financing from a lender or private source in combination with retirement funds as the down paymentusing a 401k or IRA and partnering with non-disqualified persons

So, the costs aren't prohibitive.

Also checking with my custodian but wanted to solicit input on whether that would be ”prohibitive”.Thanks for the input.