Again, this is my first deal, and an out of state one, so I am figuring getting her opinion from a buyer's agent point of view may be beneficial and could also help me negotiate the price down a bit. 

Earnest Money though is stuck without mutual release. 

I appreciate the advice, and will begin to network in a manner that is mutually benefiting for both parties.

Strategy: The long term money will ideally deployed into cash flow rentals (minor renovations are fine) with the plan to snowball into future properties, with the short term money either for a flip (time permitting as I work a fairly demanding job as a CRE lender) or just put into a few mutual funds, as it will likely need to go into my future primary residence to support my girlfriend and our future family.Goal: Build a portfolio of rental properties so I can "retire" by 45 (I'm 33).

Do you think buying a home for a $350K price tag now would be beneficial?

Have read the guides and working my way through all of the books, but seeing it in person would be extremely beneficial.

Would there be any way to partner with him to use my credit to help him refinance and pull his money back out to do it again that would be mutually beneficial for both of us?

Another option may be to take the distribution as cash but then I would be removing it from its tax shelter.That being said I know that I could reinvest the distributions into stocks, mutual funds, etc. although I may need to have the funds transferred from one account to another.

Depending on the account size and your tax situation, it may be beneficial to spread the distribution over a few years in order to avoid being taxed at a higher rate.The RMDs for your situation are based on the IRS's Single Life Expectancy Table, not growth.

Most agree that this type of entity structure is quite beneficial if planning to own numerous properties.