@Matt Fisher the IRS defines you (or any business or entity that you own) as 'Disqualified' for the purposes of your retirement account.

I thought it can as long as it is intended for investment purpose.

This post is for entertainment purposes only and not to be construed as legal advice applicable under NCGS 84-2.1 Seek legal help for your particular case.

I purposely stayed in touch with him after the purchase because I knew that he’d be a huge resource in determining good areas from the bad.

This is the only question that you have to ask yourself: Do you want to tie your own money up, or do you want to leverage someone else's money and use your own for your own purposes?

@Michael Herr   I personally would use a steel door, for security purposes.  

The three rentals I bought have been used for investment purposes only and have never been my place of residence.

I think you may want to go back and do some more research and reading, get a few books, listen to some additional pod casts and refine some of the methods used to find deals.There are a ton of ways to find property:Direct maildoor knockingnetworkingcraigslistcall adds or signs for rent and ask current landlords if they are willing to selldriving for dollarsMLSvarious RE agentsdelinquent tax records/paper publicationsre-purpose a buildingetc etcIf you were looking for MFH then yes switch to SFR.

The basic run down for a hotel/B&B would be this...50% - 1st mortgage provided by bank30% - provided by SBA (SBA will go up to 40% but because it's a new business they add 5% & ding you for another 5% because it's a single purpose asset (hotel)).  20% - down from borrower Full Recourse for any borrower with 20%+ in equity stake The 50% bank piece term & rate are somewhat up to the bank with a few exceptions.  

How do you assign general expenses incurred in your rental business to individual houses for tax purposes?