The downside is you'll only be able to do one of these at a time.

As I see it, there were several downsides at the time including and clearly not limited to:Equity lossTightening of CreditOver-Leveraged folks losing homes to foreclosureJob losses causing some folks to not be able to meet financial obligations (rents)But these could easily be offset by some of the positives at the time, particularly for those in a buy and hold position:Increased pool of renters as folks lost their homesIncreased demand forcing rental prices up (after some period of time of course)Banks (private lenders??)

So the downside is not actually that bad.

Most landlords don't see the downside of waiting until things break:tenant dissatisfaction, risk of additional damage, repairs "clusters", lower rents, etc.The reason PMs say what you heard is 99% of landlords want things broken and irreparable before they spring for a repair.

On the downside, you're probably in 3rd or 4th-lien position, so good luck getting your money back if things go south.SFR purchases and multifamily investing have both been gone over in detail by other, much more knowledgeable investors.

The major downside is that paying off $180K is going to take a while, much longer than saving up a down payment on another property and getting the ball rolling on my mortgage-free lifestyle sooner. 

Eddie speaks to all of the downsides presented in this forum, and anyone who takes the resources he presents and learns the business is set up for success.

There are many ways to invest in a truly passive nature and make low double digit returns with a relatively low downside / capital protection through note funds, etc.

IF you were 'just the lender' and not a 'partner' with your SDIRA, it would simplify things as there would be no UBIT tax due and no partnership or LLC structure needed, I *think*.The down side is you can just 'share the profit' that way.

@Brian Green - What's the downside of operating the property "as-is?"