Look at Apple, they sell the IPhone.

The same is true for holding shares of Apple personally as vs within an IRA.When evaluating the investments to make with IRA capital, the decision comes down to what can get you the best mix of risk/reward.  

Regarding my time, I conservatively estimate about 60 hours per year spent on the home, and value my time at $150/hr (what I can make spending my time elsewhere).Here's my financials spreadsheet I maintain for this property:Costs/Expenses/Equity ContributionsAnnual ExpensesTaxes3700Insurance1000Maintenance/Repairs2500Interest Expense (3.875% rate at current loan balance of $168k)6510Total Costs13710Rental Income21000Net Income7290Annual Appreciation (assuming 4%)12000Net Gain Including Annual Appreciation19290Annual Time spent on home -maintenance, finding tenants, dealing with city, etc. (60 hours x $150/hr)-9000Net Gain Less Value of Time10290Equity in Home (Approximate market value of $350k less loan balance of $162k less realtor selling fees of $15k, less seller's side transfer tax of $7k166,000ROI Analysis - Includes Opportunity Cost of Selling HomeNet Gain compared to Equity in Home11.62%Apples-to-apples comparison with passive investment (factoring in value of my time above)6.20%

@Joshua DorkinI never made it in time to see the old site, but this one is very good - easy to navigate, great features, and allows further connectivity.I enjoy the BP app for iPhone while on the go, but do you guys have any plans on releasing an iPad app?

Your guess is as good as mine at this point, and having a "Plan B" for all your rental properties is essential now more than ever.The folks from Atlanta, Kansas City, and Ohio are going to laugh at my "great" Seattle numbers haha- if we remove cleaning fees (pass through) and platform / marketing fees we can do a "apples to apples-ish" comparison to a long term rental.

(Take it from a Mathematics degreed, NASA scientist).You can not take a small sample from a larger environment with a specific set of characteristics and group them into one audience and then conclude that BECAUSE of the characteristics you have seleceted you then project that characteristic over the entire group.Duh.. that obviously doeant make sense.Let me translate this into English.You have a bunch of apples. some red, some green some yellow.You take all the red ones away and place them into one group.

We all assume Manhattan is the Big Apple forever, but maybe people like Florida oranges better?   

I use my iPhone.

The point is, learn to compare apples to apples.

It's apples to oranges.