Its just the ramblings of a middle aged old guy with a W2 and a half baked plan!

I'd like to pick up either one of these lots to be able to expand what we want to do with the house.Both owners live in other states, and through many online searching found they're age 63 & older, with kids that now have families of their own too. 

Can I set up a self directed IRA, invest in rental properties and pull out the cashflow every month and pay the 10% penalty until I'm retirement age?   

Age is only a number.

Plus i don't want to just work most of my life and retire, id rather enjoy life to the fullest, especially at my age of 22.

How much reserve ($ or %age) normally do you keep per property for Capex/maintenance?

I too am fond of the buy and hold and as the properties age I would liquidate and maintain a healthy RE portfolio.

What age houses are you looking at?  

Handwritten or letter heads for the following:1.Probate2.Driving for dollars 3.Code Violations4.Tax delinquent 5.High equity and long term owners6.Home owners over the age of 657.Notice of DefaultAppreciate the help in advance.

Never thought of myself ever achieving "a million dollars"  in liquid capital or even real property, but I was talking with my wife and she says that for a 5 years goal, in this day and age that is probably lowballing it considering I don't have a fulltime job to dance around time wise.Anyway- thanks again mega for your replies!