Currently focused on building an emergency account and maxing out my 2018 401k/ira's (when 2018 starts). 

However, we could make loans to a non-disqualified person who is also buying rental properties.So I got to thinking about a criss-cross arrangement...could two unrelated people building rental portfolios who also have substantial funds in their 401k or self-directed IRA invest in with each other?  

My current income is around 80k, and I'm able to save around 30k a year.I was thinking about max-ing out my ROTH IRA, but after fees I will average around 5% over time. 

I did find that when I did a rollover from one Ira company to another the banks counted that as income as well as when I did a Roth conversion the next year.

In an IRA?  

Hi BP,We are looking to rollover a sep IRA and a roth IRA into a self directed 401k or solo 401k.

All investments must be entirely by the IRA and for the benefit of the IRA. 

Have you thought of asking someone with a self-directed IRA to lend you funds at an attractive interest rate secured by a second mortgage on the properties.

There are many IRAs that can be converted into self directed REITs. 

Alternatively, if your 401K is leftover from a previous employer, and you can roll it into an IRA, you should consider a self directed REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust).