Depending on the amount owed I might pay it off after I’m under contract to do a property inspection and ask for the money back at closing.

Alexander,It depends and varies hugely.

But I’m sure that depending on the area that experience will vary.

I invest in Boise, ID and do quite a few BRRRRs, LTRs and STRs- varying degrees of success depending on how much equity we can force and the type of back end financing we can find, but the tax benefits are great and it's a rapidly growing market and Idaho is probably the most landlord friendly state in the nation. 

This depends on your insurance.

But, there are still deals that can make sense depending on your budget. 

Whether you should take a retirement distribution or not depends on several factors1) How much do you value the freedom/flexibility to ues the money NOW compared to when you are 60 years old.2) What type of return can you get having cash vs investing in an IRA / SDIRA.If you can make a 1% - 2% better annual return in your personal name, it may make sense as the added return will pay for the penalties over a couple of years.I personally cashed out of my retirement account back in 2016 and it was the best decision I made.

@Kevin Hintz It's property dependent, obviously, but last year, I sold one a street back from the beach that they're cash flowing.

Make sense with our need for inventory nationally, but this is also very market dependent.     

And it also depends on what you mean by 'cash flow.'