If you look the property up on the county tax assessor website and it doesn't give the specs but instead says "merch apartment" then you have to do a commercial loan on it.  

Even after years of going to different "free" retirement workshops, my parents have never heard of it.Do you guys know a good website that can give them an unbiased summary of self-directed IRA?

Check out the website: http://rireig.com/Good luck!

Finding this website is a blessing.

Or start putting that $150/month to work for you, which is very relevant on a REI website. 

I lost everything, at that time I was also had a nice e-commerce website besides starting the real estate.

Hello @Duc Ong I would recommend utilizing services such as Angie's List or a website called Thumbtack.

Being a website developer, I think the BP website has some issues that needs to be addressed.  

Track down the owners by going to the county websites with the suspect property address and mail the owners a letter saying you want to buy their house.

From going through different websites it seems like I need to have a property in contract before pursuing the loan.