To be safe, I would suggest you run this by a good real estate attorney in your area.

Purchase home in safe neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan ($1,000-$5,000)2.

I have 1 house in my SDIRA, and plan to add about 2 more over the next year.Specifically Real estate is good for an IRA because owning non leveraged real estate is a relatively safe investment -- the type that should be in a retirement account.

Hey John Trout - I ran across this video a couple of years ago that explains one of the ideas behind this technique (buying an LLC instead of the property itself):http://youtu.be/0sjLNIEsKKk (he gets into it at approx 3:00)In this case, he's talking about using this technique as more of a substitute for assigning a contract (this comes in handy when lenders get involved and refuse to cooperate with an assignment).For the scenario you're talking about (if the property is already owned) I suppose you could use this same process to save on recording/closing costs and transfer taxes (because there is no new deed being recorded).

When I first heard about this technique I thought it was crazy.

To find good deals in good neighborhoods use the same techniques just focus on better areas.

I have another question: Last night I attended a Bigger Pockets get together and the SAFE Act was brought up and it was mentioned that as a safety measure, investors can only seller finance to other investors.

For instance, if you intend to gut the kitchen cabinets and counter tops and replace with new, that will not be on the inspection report so long as it is in working and safe condition.

In the long scheme of things, this is worth more than the short term bucks you'll get from the tax deductions (which also might put you in an awkward spot should you get audited, coughing up taxes and penalties).3) While there is no statute of limitations on maintaining all records to establish the correct basis on a property (for computing depreciation currently abd eventually computing the capital gain when disposed of), I do think that you would have something of a "safe harbor" if something that you expensed improperly (or let's just say aggressively) has slipped more than 3 years into the rear view mirror, as long as there is no evidence of fraud/criminal activity or other shenanigans that would give the IRS greater leeway in dredging things up.

Should I begin letting FCI do full servicing and collections on my npn notes to be safe?