Building up cash in a self-directed IRA

[Stephanie Medellin]

I'm just starting to research self directed IRA's. Do they have the same annual investment limits as a regular IRA - about $5500/year? If so, if your plan is to invest in real estate with the money in your IRA, what happens to your money in the meantime while you're building up enough cash to invest?

Could you invest the maximum each year for four years until you have a little over $20,000 saved up and then invest it?  Would it just sit in the account until then, or you do have to invest the money in something?  

With the stock market at all time highs, I'd rather not put money into a traditional IRA and lose it all when the market goes down.