@Michelle Romano, Doing a 1031 exchange (selling your current property and following a prescribed process to buy another investment property) will certainly defer all federal tax and depreciation recapture.  

I have a pre approval from navy federal with no money down and no pmi, which I thought was outstanding! 

@Tom Hertz The following compares the solo 401(k) and the IRAThe Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k Similarities Both were created by congress for individuals to save for retirement;Both may be invested in alternative investments such as real estate, precious metals tax liens, promissory notes, private company shares, and stocks and mutual funds, to name a few;Both allow for Roth contributions;Both are subject to prohibited transaction rules;Both are subject to federal taxes at time of distribution;Both allow for checkbook control for placing alternative investments;Both may be invested in annuities;Both are protected from creditors;Both allow for nondeductible contributions;Both are prohibited from investing in assets listed under I.R.C. 408(m); andThe Self-Directed IRA and Solo 401k DifferencesIn order to open a solo 401k, self-employment, whether on a part-time or full-time basis, is required;To open a self-directed IRA, self-employment income is not required;In order to gain IRA checkbook control over the self-directed IRA funds, a limited liability company (IRA LLC)  must be utilized;The solo 401k allows for checkbook control from the onset;The solo 401k allows for personal loan known as a solo 401k loan;It is prohibited to borrow from your IRA;The Solo 401k may be invested in life insurance;The self-directed IRA may not be invested in life insurance;The solo 401k allow for high contribution amounts (for 2015; the solo 401k contribution limit is $53,000, whereas the self-directed IRA contribution limit is $5,500);The solo 401k business owner can serve as trustee of the solo 401k;The self-directed IRA participant/owner may not serve as trustee or custodian of her IRA; instead, a trust company or bank institution is required;When distributions commence from the solo 401k a mandatory 20% of federal taxes must be withheld from each distribution and submitted electronically to the IRS by the 15th of the month following the date of each distribution;Rollovers and/or transfers from IRAs or qualified plans (e.g., former employer 401k) to a solo 401k are not reported on Form 5498, but rather on Form 5500-EZ, but only if the air market value of the solo 401k exceeds $250K as of the end of the plan year (generally 12/31);When funds are rolled over or transferred from an IRA or 401k to a self-directed IRA, the amount deposited into the self-directed IRA is reported on Form 5498 by the receiving self-directed IRA custodian by May of the year following the rollover/transfer.Rollovers (provided the 60 day rollover window is satisfied) from an IRA to a Solo 401k or self-directed IRA are reported on lines 15a and 15b of Form 1040;Pre-tax IRA contributions on reported on line 32 of Form 1040;Pre-tax solo 401k contributions are reported on line 28 of Form 1040;Roth solo 401k funds are subject to RMDs;A Roth 401k may be transferred to a Roth IRA (Note that from a planning perspective, it may be advantageous to transfer Roth Solo 401k funds to a Roth IRA before turning age 70 ½ in order to escape the Roth RMD requirement applicable to Roth 401k contributions including Roth Solo 401k contributions and earnings.)

We also learned about state and federal usury laws to avoid jail time :)--I learned what ARV even meant, how to calculate NOI and CAP rates etc, and what they mean.

What was popular years ago has hit a brick wall, even if they are customary in a local area, the results get into federal law, tax law and title issues at the federal level, so you can just smile at local customs. 

In Washington State charted credit unions can fund marijuana dispensaries while Federally chartered banks still stay away from what the feds call "drug money laundering.Bill Gates will not need an appraisal on a rental purchase and pretty much find it easy to fund a 90% purchase.

The nice thing about having student loan debt is that if its federal loans you can always file for a hardship if you lose your job or get sick etc and your payments will be deferred, you won't find that with other loans. 

@Mellisa Otwell activated my keyword alerts =)State Department Federal Credit Union does fixed/variable Home Equity loans on primary residences up to 125% (up to $100), or up to 95% (up to $300k).  

In this new world of CFPB oversight, you really want to be careful when messing with federal regulations.Finally, having spoken to investors who have used those leads, it seems their results are worse then those who start later in the process (at nod, or even nts) - even when they don't follow the rules.There is a common misconception that being first to talk to an owner is best.

Your replacement property then has some separate bookkeeping with respect to PA basis and federal basis, and the corresponding depreciation.