And, there are private lenders in the Raleigh market who would cross collateralize (taking a lien against one of your free and clear properties)....more expensive than a HELOC, though.

Anything falling within that description would be self-dealing and result in severe tax penalties for the IRA.A self-directed IRA allows the IRA to diversify beyond the stock market into assets such as real estate and private lending, but everything is done through the IRA and exclusively for the benefit of the IRA. 

How would you determine what a good security deposit is?

Also, I'm not interested in note investing or private lending or anything like that.

Conventional lenders won't / can't lend if there is a seller carried component to a transaction...you'd have to look to private money...or avoid the bank altogether...

I had a few questions about Private Lending and what it would take to be a Private Lender.1.

Salary is 79K for $1800 per month apt.  2 month security and month to month lease, although she is looking for longterm (which we would prefer, but keeping M2M). 

The wording in some of the references I was going by seems to say that you can't write off HELOC interest unless it was used to renovate, or improve the home against which it is secured. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/interest-on-home-equity-loans-often-still-deductible-under-new-law

I certainly wouldn't do this with high interest private or hard money.

I'm in the Chicago area, does anyone know maybe some hard money/ private money lenders who can help me out????