Most of the scenarios proposed to us by potential clients for such joint ventures would likely create a benefit between the parties and not pass scrutiny in an audit.There are many ways to safely and productively grow your IRA investing in non-traditional assets such as real estate in a standalone fashion,  There is no need to take unnecessary and foolish risks with your retirement savings.

I have a 6 year goal to retire at the age of 50.

If all goes as planned I hope to begin investing in February (after the wedding); until then I'll be building contacts, browsing the MLS, and doing calculations on properties i find.A bit about myself; my father raised me to be independent and do manual labor myself and now because of him, I do many of the home repairs myself and like to believe I'm fully capable of being my own property manager (currently own a home i purchased thinking i could grow into).

IMO it depends as much or more on the number of people as the age of the property, and if the current owner is a mainainer or an avoider.

Do I still need a normal w-2 job  or can I live and grow exponentially from $200k? 

@Andrew Smith If you want to take the safer approach then pay off what you have and continue to grow slowly and grow a small portfolio.

I believe I'm knowledgeable about real estate for my age and ready to get my feet wet purchasing my first property.

If you know expenses will grow that fast you need to increase income the same.What type property is this? 

I was looking for a MSA with a growing population, low unemployment, and I had thought that a low price/rent ratio was the most important. 

Now I've shifted careers to help grow our contracting business and flip houses as a family.