By no means am i trying to be a hero, but your thinking has created a challenge and opportunity that doesnt outweigh the reward- Ive always been a risk taker, not for some "thrilling feeling", but because i know that no matter what happens, absolutely anything, EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING will be OK.

(Obvious I don't know your taxable income to make that call.)If you withdraw, you do have alot more flexibility investing with non-qualified funds, such as optimizing with leverage and having access to much better financing terms/rates, that can give you a substantially higher ROI than you might achieve in a retirement account.By pulling funds from the IRA/401K, you have also walked out of the casino of guessing on current vs future tax rates (with $100 trillion of federal liabilities, tax rates are quite conceivably going UP).

Right now i don't know much about commercial properties here in central Ohio but i know their are alot of empty of them here and one would think there has to be a way to make alot of money specially on the west side of columbus cause a new holly wood casino just open this last year.

I would be thrilled to have an unemployed tenant simply disappear and not cause damage!

I'm not sure the bank would even allow you to charge the seller the difference -- on the HUD, the bank would protest, and POC you'd be breaking the short sale affidavit you signed saying there were no financial agreements other than what was disclosed on the HUD.It's all well and good that you take a hard stance with the bank -- and it's great if they cave and you get your desired commission -- but arguing that you have any legal right to a certain percentage doesn't make sense to me; and implying that you'd forego the transaction or charge your client the difference seems flat out unethical for a short sale.Again, as a licensed agent myself, I'm thrilled if you can get every possible penny from the bank, but your stance seems a bit too ideologic here, as opposed to doing what's best for your client.Just my $.02...

In the mean-time, I will check out uDirect IRA services as we have not been 100% thrilled with Equity Trust.

How to handle Returns, %'s, my time managing the renovation, then my time managing the property, etc......Keep in mind I am interested in buy and hold, not fix and sell.Slightly complicating this is that though I am a buy and hold guy I'm not thrilled about the idea of holding a property for several years with a relative knowing the property management issues that might arise.

I'm sure IBM would be thrilled to deal with higher income and the taxes that go with it.For the most part, as long as taxes are not at 100%, you are better off making more.

With a little help from studying J Scott's wonderful site I soon corrected that mistake, sold the house and made a profit......Anyway, I am thrilled to be a member and I look forward to actively participating.

He wasn't thrilled about that part.