Echoing what Troy said, rules and regulations here tend to heavily favor the locals citizens. 

They will look at the big picture rather than a lender's claim as to how they operate, or their intentions.Your SDIRA is the source of your funds, it is a tax animal to make investments on a favorable tax basis.

Hey guys this seems like a positive outlet for like minded people glad I found you.My major focus is on the Buy/Fix/Sell niche I've done 3 in the past but not buying a "True Deal" and buying almost at Market Value off MLS did not work in my favor.  

I absolutely do my best to "help" the appraiser in my favor, including delivering a packet of the comps I hope he uses, a summary and detailed break out of my rehab and the hard-money/purchase appraisal if I have it. 

The other side of the coin if there is a challenge with the property ( you fired contractors, discrepancies, whatever always let the PML know as soon as possible, but have a solution for the complication.John, hey this is Bernie we had to fire our 1st set of workers, because they stole material, but the good news is we have already replaced them, and we won't miss any progress.It truly is not difficult to find money, we must change our mindset, and believe we are doing them the favor, not the other way around.

That said, I personally favor rental properties for this market since there's so many available for very reasonable prices.Since you're just starting out keep up the research and try to put in some time here on the forums.

Feel free to add me to your list as I will return the favor....

Although fire is never a good thing for properties, it worked in our favor since we lowered our asking price to 12k.

Regarding IRA investing - I would reserve that for highly taxed (or not tax-favored) activities like flipping or wholesaling.  

If you are already paying implementing those items is good but to switch to that system I would not favor.