I have two duplexes that outperform them financially and from the standpoint of my initial time invested. 

The market is much more passive and liquid and at the moment outperforming RE.

You have a good interest rate on that loan and could easily outperform that with a real estate deal, and essentially have your real estate investing help pay off your car by earning a higher rate of return.   

There are new software products coming out on the market next year that will out perform all the software products on the market right now. 

A BRRR/fixer-upper property in a great neighborhood will outperform a move-in ready property in a lower quality neighborhood.

I currently owe about $395k on them.I would love to get a larger building that can out perform what I'm making now. 

Is being in town close to everything aka walking distance to bars and restaurants outperform a quiet setting outside of town perform or can they do ust as well. 

You do not get to write off the interest you pay to your own 401(k) plan on the project side.There are lots of ways you can put your self-directed IRA to work that will consistently outperform what a normal 401(k) will do: private lending, real estate syndicates, direct ownership of rentals, etc.

You can also use leverage in the form of non-recourse loans to accelerate the growth of your IRA.If you understand real estate, you can definitely out-perform conventional financial product investing with one of these vehicles.

While I generally do believe there is opportunity for the savvy investor to out perform most turnkey companies, I think that particular deal would be hard to beat or even repeat a small deal like that from afar in this current market.