And any property you purchase with an IRA you have to keep at "arms length", meaning you can't change a freaking light bulb if one burns out; EVERYthing needs to be done by 3rd parties.

Now occasionally be do get burned by someone new, but that has only happened 1-2 times over the last 14 years.

Unless you have a good answer to that question, you are at risk for getting into it and quickly burning out when difficulties arise (and they will).If you really want to get into rental properties, I would look into if you could even get a loan on an investment property given your debt to income ratio.

I'm working with Peter Shade of Burns and Ellis right now and I really like him.

It works well here in MA because the laws are so tenant-friendly that many landlords get very frustrated and burn out fairly quickly.

I'm at the office right now on mint.com tracking our family burn rate.  

The burning desire has arrived.

If you buy one for $40-70k, you'll have to likely burn it down and start over.  

I think last time he tried it, he got burned...though maybe he'd be more open to the idea if he knew I only need financing for a small portion of the purchase price. 

Bob Burns