sounds like a pain in the *** for an investment vehicle. also raises the question to me of " Where the heck is this property located that its eligible?"

Take out the equity when the seasoning period has ended with whatever financing vehicle you choose(refi, heloc, etc.).

‘Servus’ from a fellow german expat, i moved to The U.S. two years ago and also pursue real estate as an investment vehicle - not really local to your area here in Vegas, but maybe we can link up some time on BiggerPockets, i’d be curious to learn how you got started and where you are headed :)

You cannot purchase the property personally and then assign or transfer to your IRA.Any self-directed IRA vehicle will likely take 2-3 weeks to establish, largely due to the timeframe involved in moving funds from your current institution to the new institution. 

I like the idea of looking in prospective tenants vehicles, unfortunately it was a February evening in South Dakota when they came to look, so not a lot could be garnered from that. 

Further, if you decide to sell that property and reinvest into another investment you don't have to do the 1031 exchange since you are doing so inside of a tax-sheltered vehicle (IRA). 

Is it more cost efficient to claim miles on your own vehicle or purchase one with your business and deduct that way?

This is not true and I will explain why.Can you provide a realistic annual maintenance cost that applies equally well to the two vehicles below:One is a new economy car and the other is a wrecked Humvee.

My biggest or most unusual problems were: abandoned vehicles, a person escaped from a mental institution, tenants with pet rattlesnakes that escaped their container, a round trip visit to the dentist for a wisdom tooth removal, a one way bus ticket from Kansas to Georgia, cashing $25,000 worth of checks each week for a group of guys from out of state, etc.  

Tell them when they ask that you do not release the reason for rejecting simply that they did not meet their screen criteria.Many times applicants are rejected due to appearance, attitude, upkeep of personal vehicle etc.