You just want to be judicious and protect your "6" as you move forward.

Renting on a per-room basis is great, but you can definitely have other complications like more wear n tear, especially when renting to college students.Overall, I think it was a great experience for me personally.

After the 5 years, I effectively own the property free and clear and can reap all subsequent cash flow.The major hurdles with this plan (that I can think of at least) include:- Creating complicated legal documents that attempt to lay out how much cash the seller is owed each month- Finding sellers who are willing to put up with the hassle of this type of transaction, especially for the smaller deals I am looking forThe biggest 'pro' to this idea, however, is that the seller gets residual income for 5 years (which may seem like an eternity to some people) and I, the buyer, accomplish my objectives in acquiring homes w/ less money down and setting myself up for cash flowing properties in Years 6 and beyond. 

If it is free and clear, you could possibly use owner financing, though if you have multiple extended family members that could get complicated.  

Yeah thats the option I am trying to explore to see if i can treat it as ECI without establishing LLC as there are complications in India for foreign business entities.

Vague answers are fine. thanks.Looks like NOLO had some good information. https://www.nolo.com/legal-enc... https://www.nolo.com/legal-enc... it appears yes it could happen, unlike California where it can't in a non-judicial proceeding (most common). 

Like any system, it gets convoluted/complicated and if you don’t understand the “inner workings” (the above is a more like a summary), people come up with their own explanations of what they see/experience.

@Steve K.I hear you about it maybe being complicated, and have had seller's agents in Denver tell me that.

I'd look up 1031 accomodators in that area since they deal with pretty complicated ownership structures and the IRS all the time.  

Due to the complex nature of Self-Directed IRAs, it is helpful to have a custodian that will provide some much-needed guidance as you travel through the murky and confusing waters of the IRS tax code.Some IRA custodians have more complicated fee structures than others.