If the property is permitted to have 3 units, then you have to consider finished ceiling heights, window sizes (unsafe to have "basement" sized windows for an apartment), flooding potential, placement of the mechanicals, size and nature of the entry, whether or not there are 2 ways to exit and a number of other practical considerations and considerations dictated by the laws and codes of the area.

That said, this alternative to traditional financing is typically more expensive and requires repayment or refinancing into a traditional loan in as little as five years.

I prefer darker colors, but it's a personal preference.I once read somewhere that room colors should simulate nature: dark at the bottom and lighter as you go up (earth, trees, sky).

You need to be a natural salesperson.DO take some sales training classes, or get a job in sales.

If anyone knows of or has  experience with a SDIRA investment that has similar features, I would welcome recommendations so I can research alternate investments if needed.

RE by it's nature is illiquid, never totally passive.Index funds have RE beat on both those aspects.Therefore, I don't see why I'd choose to invest in something with less liquidity, and not as simple as index funds, when I'm getting about the same return as them.

Some people call it speculative investing, but it doesn't take a genius to know that people naturally want to live in places like CA, Phoenix, or Florida. 

People do what they need to survive and become who they are around (plus what they see) if the only rich people they see are the Chicago drug dealers on the corner, their minds naturally tell them that selling drugs is how they get money. 

Owning property is not just a generational thing, it is a natural human desire.

I think he naturally has an optimistic point of view when it comes to real estate and forcing equity into distressed properties.