If you have left the company you could move the money to a Self Directed IRA but you have the be very careful not to mix with other funds of yours and if you don't have cash for a full purchase then finding a lender will be more of a challenge.

And all the sources of funds must be able to be documented.Sources of Funds - Typically cash is king and any cash coming from a bank account, qualified retirement account that allows for a real estate purchase (typically a self-directed IRA), or borrowed 401k funds.

I've been reading a lot about both the Solo 401(k) and the Self-Directed IRA LLC. 

In 2015, my IRA account was down 40% at one point (was learning stocks still), but in 2016 I tweaked my strategy I was up over 20% for 2016.

on a separate note are you still investing in loans via your IRA and what service provider do you use for it if you do?

Or pay the $3000/mth into my husband's SEP IRA, or my 457 plan (I newly work for the county). 

Many members are experts in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate brokerage, wholesaling, flipping, buy and hold, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.There are some pretty cool discounts on various products and services offered as Perks to BP members that you might want to check out: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proIf you haven’t checked it out already, the Bigger Pockets blog features links to their awesome podcast and many great articles: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

I'm looking to try and figure out ways if using my IRA as a down payment for a rental?

This leaves us enough max out our 401k's at work and Roth IRA's yearly which brings our contributions to investments of index funds to 18% each.

Curious if I could purchase a real estate property with an LLC and use the revenue to fund a SEP IRA?