Pretty much all DSCR Lenders will not let you have a hard money loan that secures the property for the 25% down payment just FYI (if I am reading you correctly)Can you tell me if DSCR lenders would allow for IRA to be used as DP? 

These adjustments noted in the IRA include updated energy savings requirements and retrofit rules, new prevailing wage and apprenticeship standards and increased potential tax deductions for energy-efficient commercial properties.

While I have already been contributing to my Roth IRA and 401k, once I start working, I additionally intend to allocate a significant portion of my income towards real estate.I'm seeking advice on the best approach to get started with real estate as soon as reasonably possible.

Go to www.TRUSTETC.comBy the book from Amazon written by Patrick Rice called "IRA wealth"Then go to CPAs and offered to do a self-directed IRAs presentation, many times custodians will help you with the presentationIn my presentations I generally talk about what are all your choices are to get a good rate of return for your retirementThe stock market just lost a lot of value recentlyTalk about the debacles of WorldCom, and wrong, and Bernie Madoff.Then talk about the rule of 72 which means how long it takes a set amount of money to double overtimeNote: This does take some time to develop but once you have private lenders that create so if directed IRAs for a good ride return such as 6 to 10%, at your disposal you have a lot of choices especially in cheap markets

Besides a self directed IRA, are there any other options on deferring or reducing the taxes I will owe?

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/

cash with self directed IRA funds How did you add value to the deal?

Building a back end: Big IRA accounts as a reserve Owning stocks in a brokerage to collateral or can cash outOwning cash flowing property with strong equity positions and cash flow to collateralOwning crypto (long term vision) to eventually sell for more and transfer profits into more real estate. 

I'm considering rolling my IRA into a Self Directed IRA (& Learning all the rules to that) and going that route to finance our next purchase.

The premium you get will probably be north of 20% AROI AND probably a better than 50/50 chance of your shares being called away.In the bull market like the current one, I’m doing DITM puts (with far out expirations) in my Roth IRA for growth stocks that I want to own. 10-20% monthly (not annual) seems to be the average return, even if the stock gets assigned at any stage (at a lower strike than market price).