Lay all your cards on the table and evaluate exactly your risk tolerance and what you have/need to protect.

Once you find an area that you like and that fits your risk tolerance take a flight out there and get boots on the ground to get a feel for how the quality of life is where you're investing.

In my opinion, if you've never done it before..you really need to have a high risk tolerance. 

You will not see many articles touting self-directed IRAs as much because Wall Street loses their fee opportunity.Another thing to think about is not just performance but your tolerance for risk.  

I will probably regret not trying to be more creative in 5 years but as it was, the deal exceeded my risk tolerance.

My risk tolerance is pretty high, so I'm okay with being the only one in the area to do this.

P&I on 150K is likely to come in around $900 a month before taxes, insurance, and any accruals for repairs, capex, etc, leaving that pretty thin on a monthly cashflow basis (at least for my risk tolerance but everyone is different on that.)

In my opinion, looking at the whole picture (rental agreements, market rents vs. actual, vacancy, appreciation, etc) makes the investor outlook in OC a little more tolerable.

Or still do brrrr method with using loan Depends on your reasons, motivation, risk tolerance and finances

(I am also curious but probably not all that important...... if anyone has any thoughts on type of PEX PEX-A - "Uponor" - more flexible more expensive, not a strong against high pressure; PEX-B "Viega", more rigid but harder to bend or curve, has higher pressure, oxidation, chlorination tolerance; PEX-C... ?