Dustin,It is possible to use a self-directed IRA to invest in real estate, however you most likely will not be able to fund it from your PST.

To try to acquire all that real estate with your limited funds and experience, and being tied to a private lender and an inevitable difficult refi. or married to co-owner, is asking for trouble.

Like I said, there are many definitions for the same word.Until you get a bunch of properties and you need to worry about the tax implications of co-mingling funds, keep the properties in your personal name. 

I ran into this issue with crowdfunding, being that I am a non-accredited investor, thus, I resorted to the stock fund investment path.

@William DeLuca - Have you considered doing some wholesaling to build up your cash funds enough to make your first purchase?

Not to mention it seems like a great way to raise capital and do more deals more quickly and therefore gain experience faster. 

You might as well save yourself the headache and put that $ into a mutual fund which will get you 6-8%, you should be looking for deals with 15% CoCR. $200/mo without paying your self for being a property manager is not a good deal!

My goal with real estate investing is to build enough cash flow to fund my other business ventures as well as donate to financial literacy programs.  

Provide value by finding and managing the deal while the partner brings their experience and ability to raise money... it might not be a lot of equity % on the first few but the important thing is the experience and building a track record. 

How do people traditionally go about funding this when you just get started.3) Take out a home equity line of credit. $20k again.