It could be someone in your family, your dentist, your local small business owner, or even anyone who has an IRA and is looking for better returns with less risk than the stock market. 

This friend is interested in trying to take over management of their real estate to qualify as a real estate professional to the IRS in order to be able to write off losses from real estate against their ordinary income, including IRA withdrawals or conversions to a Roth IRA. 

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.Discounts on some products and services are offered to BP members: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proIf you haven’t been to it already, you might want to check out the BP blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

same here, and as this was a self-directed IRA purchase, I fear I have no recourse

This site is great if you are looking to invest into real estate, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, crypto, or tax and legal guidance.

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.Discounts on some products and services are offered to BP members: https://www.biggerpockets.com/perks/proIf you haven’t been to it already, you might want to check out the BP blog: https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/The site has quite a few tools that can be helpful for new members.

I need some advice related to the self directed IRA as well as some other questions we have.

A lot of forum members are very knowledgeable in their respective fields related to real estate investing, whether that is real estate sales, wholesaling, flipping, rentals, lending, self-directed IRA and Solo 401k investing, or tax and legal guidance.Use the Bigger Pockets glossary to learn more about real estate terms that may be new to you: https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/glossaryAlerts can be really helpful too: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alertsThere are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides

If you have high income, certainly look at contributing to an IRA or 401K to defer some taxes. 

I moved some money from an old IRA to a self directed IRA to make this investment How did you add value to the deal?