A great book to read on this subject is, "the abc's of real estate investing" by Ken McElroy.This process has helped me identify a bad deal much quicker so I can move onto finding the very rare Great Deals!

Needless to say, significantly lower than what my payment will be.I'm considering offering to do a subject to purchase agreement to allow more cash flow and have a greater chance to put together the cash I'll need in 5 years.

BP has even written a book on the subject specifically that you might think about picking up.

All of these sales are subject to the sellers approval.  

I look forward to speaking with you more on this subject in the very near future.

Valuations are figured by using real sold data and comparing it to the subject property.  

@Mark Dammeyer - Interesting subject, hope you found the answer to your question and managed to get some deals done?

If you have to borrow in order to buy in your IRA, the borrowed money will be subject to taxes that negate the value of the IRA - This puts you right back at point one.

@Jerry Puckett I am considering working with a marketer who knows subject to deals.  

She's been successful in this area and has written numerous articles on the subject for the BP blog.