Hi Christian,Welcome to BP eh.Your answer to question 1 is a matter of opinion and you're going to have to decide for yourself what works best for you.

In my market the numbers have been skewed and way off what traditionally works, but that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of people making money here.Good luck - Ned

If you have the chance, do it and try to finance out as soon as you can with traditional lending, but manage expectations and understand that it might be a year or two until that happens, IF everything goes well.

I am still in some educational programs (phd and mba) and the employment contract with my university runs out in 06/2015, which might hamper any attempts to secure a traditional loan.

@John Ellis , I think @Andrew S. is talking more about using the secure office as a "nicer" storage facility for documents, rather than as a traditional office to have visitors in.

I started my real estate career in wholesaling, but transitioned into traditional retail RE sales during 2007.

He might also be interested in doing loans for a longer period of 10-15 years for buy and holds in my SDIRA that are not eligible for traditional non-recourse loans.Part of his interest stems from the potential of getting 3-4 times his current returns for what he sees as a relatively low risk.

My asking price is about 15% more than it's probably worth it, but owner financed homes traditionally sell for full price, if not a bit more.Just curious if anyone as had problems selling high ends homes on a lease/purchase or Rent to own concept?

Seems like your business is in a good position, as long as you can keep getting the inside track on distressed properties and traditional listings.

@Sam Leon - it seems from reading this that you may be confusing a couple of different types of self directed 401k's. 1) Solo 401k -- around $500 to set up and $150-200/year 2) Rollover as Business Startup (ROBS) - $3,000 to $5,000 to set up and $500-$1,000/year You would use (1) if you are going to invest in rentals, notes, and making non-profit sharing loans (e.g. just interest and points), or if investing in other traditional asset classes such as stocks, bonds, funds, ETFs, etc.