My situation:

I have a cousin who has been a teacher in Northern California for more than 25 years and has a 401k worth more than $200K.  We get along great and after reading about self directed IRAs I was thinking we could access his retirement funds in order to invest in a property together.  He is interested we just don't know how to go about getting our funds together.  

I currently live abroad and don't have a consistent W-2 (which limits my ability to borrow money), but I do have a small office space that is rented and fully paid off.  I would match his $200K by selling some stocks and using savings so we would go in together 50-50 on whatever property we would invest in.  

My questions are:  Besides getting a lawyer to establish a LP, how would we legally combine our funds in order to acquire an investment property?  Would we establish a trust?   How could we get additional funds in order to get enough money to invest in the bay area, considering my living situation abroad, lack of consistent W-2?  Would my cousin's W-2 from teaching and my fully paid office space be enough to get a loan for the the purchase price- let's say of around $1.5M?

I appreciate any advice on my situation.

Best,

Dan