Most operate all in the same way, but Pensco and Equity Trust offer bank level online access that connects with Mint, Personal Capital, etc. so you can see your data all in one place.Yes, you will have to pay fees to your custodian in order to process transactions, just like a stock broker like Fidelity will charge you fees to process transactions.  

What I like about your service is I do not have to worry about a 10% drop in the stock market and have to wait it out to get my money back and if I put in a year's worth of rental payments in your account I should get roughly half a payment extra because of the interest.

@Nicholas Morgan  Beyond a credit card, you can look to get a personal loan from our bank, margin acct for any stocks you own, or even a 401k loan if you're comfortable with that. 

@John PaulI would focus on investing in yourself first make sure you’re educated make sure you have your goals down and you know why you’re even getting involved in real estate once you know your goals then you can create the strategy to get to that goal.Once you have your strategy you can now work it backwards and you can buy properties that will get you toward your goal the property is nothing more than a mathematical formula to get you a return once you have that return coming in that should be sending you closer toward your goal.If the properties do not match your strategy in your area just like stocks may not match your strategy in your area you have to go outside of your area to find properties that match we have many investors that live out of state and out of country buy from us in Texas and we manage it for them always make sure that your strategy aligns with your goal before you buy your first property

the HELOC will be based on appraised value...appraisals are hard to predict, but you have a huge equity position...so even if it comes back conservative, you should be good...credit unions are your best bet...better on fees and higher LTV....but you should shop to confirm.The alternative for you is putting a loan in place and using the delayed finance exception...try to take cash out.

I found this article that says it's better to rent and invest in the stock market than to buy your own house, great news for landlords!

Remember that real estate is not get rich quick but a way to build wealth predictably over a long term.

I have plenty of reserves and a lot of cash coming in from other properties, notes, stocks, bonds, etc. 

My mother in NC recently passed away leaving me a house in NC (fully paid off) and other investments in stocks and mutual funds as well as vehicle, furniture, etc.

What makes a self-directed IRA custodian different is that they are not purely connected to the public exchanges and limited to investing in stocks, bonds and funds, but rather have the staff training and paperwork to document the IRA's investment in the more individualized transactions that occur when investing in real estate, notes and other non-traditional assets.