The place is a dump with very low quality tenants.  

Anyway, I'm just checking the other houses in the area to see how much they've sold for and low and behold the city owns 9 of the 14 houses and 2 empty lots in one block!  

However, I hear all the time that interest rates are so low that it's worth it to finance real estate with debt if possible.

I want to be able to carve my own path and not be worried about people telling me "if you're not in your career by 35 you'll be doomed to low-paying jobs." 

You're right-it would take an unprecedented level of co-operation between all the heirs to ever consider taking on that chore!

You don't have that level of flexibility with the IRA.

My idea of getting into real estate investing was coming up with 20% of your own money (that's 60k where I live for a low end property), traditional residential mortgage, net maybe $200 a month if I was lucky and repeat the process when I came up with another 20% until I had maybe 40 properties.

We have a post and pillar foundation house in east Grays Harbor county that needs some leveling and removal of rotten beams.  

Also, you'll have to look at the area on a macro level.

Properties are generally much cheaper relative to the rent they pull in, than in NY.3) Lower fixed costs - lower real estate taxes for starters relative to your rent roll, etc.4) Lower variable costs - labor is A LOT cheaper here.  5) Less stringent code enforcement.6) Less maintenance - milder weather, and younger average age of homes make for less maintenance.   7) Diversification - low entry price to buy property allows and investor to manage risk by buying properties in different neighborhoods instead of putting more eggs in one basket.In additional to the benefits I listed above the city is growing so fast that homes rent very quickly, often times before the sale of the home.