I remember wanting to put in new medicine cabinets and bathroom light fixtures and, do premier painting on the walls.

There is also the private money and partnership route if "traditional" financing is an issue now.

Buy a house with traditional owner occupant financing (usually better terms than given to investors) and then move out and rent it.  

When should I use a traditional loan verses a commercial loan? 

The interest-free financing is great if you need it but long term I would go with a traditional.

Yes, I create home ownership by creating owner finacing deals and then passing them on to people who cant get traditional finacing. 

But also traditional marketing as you mentioned.

Help me see where being creative on the financing will make the numbers work--I guess I'm too traditional.

Seems Blago tried to sell Obama's state senate seat....and now he'll join a long tradition of Ilinois Governors sitting in the clink.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_us/blagojevich_corruption_probe

All future gains in the Roth IRA will grow tax free.Alternatively, if you are self-employed, you can consider transferring the traditional IRA to a solo 401k as the annual fees can be as little as $125.00 per year.