My mother has one because she holds real estate in her self-directed IRA which does require an LLC.  

I would think you may want to look into a fund like @Bob Malecki has as they do all the dirty work for you... or other NPN funds were you can vette the manageralso no risk of IBT tax..although frankly I like really good performing notes for IRA s.

Matthew, An IRA can lend personally to you.

Check to see if you have a Self Directed IRA company near your is best source, other then that any big REI meeting.   

However, the aggregate amount of IRA distributions taken by an IRA owner that may be treated as qualified first-time home buyer distributions cannot exceed a lifetime limit of $10,000.

I invest in smaller notes, preferably from my Roth IRA and have some decent success around it.

When I leave the military in summer 2018 I'll have roughly 20K cash and 20K in a Roth IRA (also $0 debt).

I have a rollover IRA and another 401k.

I decided I wasn't doing myself any favors by just dreaming about being financially free, so I dove feet first into the pit and now I'm deeply invested in stocks, IRAs, you name it.

And a big part of that question is, "is this person really a cash buyer, or are they just saying they are".It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg, catch-22 type challenge - how can you get lenders to be willing to invest money with you when you have no experience, but how can you get experience without funding deals.You can try to find lenders who only focus on the deal and not the borrower (as @Sam Albert said), but be aware that many of those are going to want a substantial down payment.The other popular option, if it's available to you, is "friends and family" to help you out with your first deals, as they already know your general character and may take a chance with you on your first properties.Also remember that if you familiarize yourself with self-directed IRAs (plenty of resources here on BP and elsewhere - RIRIEG just had a weekend workshop on it a couple of weeks ago), you may find that friends and family you thought didn't have any money to invest actually do.Good luck and let us know as you have specific questions along the way of course :)