So although he's been in real estate for awhile, he has not been involved with holding, which is where focused.

Keep in mind though that most have a minimum investment of $50K-$100K with hold periods anywhere from 3-10 years (ish, this varies of course), so you'll be tying up a good chunk of your solo401k as most of the time it's advised that these types of deals be considered "illiquid."

Many of my clients, who should be entitled to the security deposit and have withheld have been sued by tenants for not following the notice protocol of withholding the security deposit.

If you pull out 700K could you invest and earn a minimum 56K net (8%).The problem with holding valuable real estate is that it's only value is all on paper and not generating any returns.

Tenants come back with sob story about how short notice is due to upcoming deployment (they are moving across town, wife is staying here during deployment, no military documentation provided)Move out date is accepted; if they want out that bad I don't want to force them to stay for fear of damagesBy CA law we can withhold 13 days of rent from their deposit due to insufficient notice to vacate. 

He is there to help you, it doesn't matter if this person specializes in investments or not, you have no reason to withhold your intentions from someone trying to help you.In a hot market you may not get a response to lowball offers. 

I am not too familiar with holding groups are they  sort of turnkey portfolios that you get in on? 

@Pandu Chimata ,The gain on the sale of the property is not taxed until your 2018 taxes are due in 2019, but if you made a significant profit, you might want to ensure that your W-2 withholding, if you have a regular job, is enough to cover the extra taxes you owe on the profit or make estimated payments so that you dont pay any penalties for underpayment of taxes you owe when you file your taxes 2019. 

@John Harrington , That 5% is just a withholding rather than a tax.

I'll use this 457 money, after they withhold 24% in taxes of it, to pay the down payment.Here is what I'm wondering as I plan to move forward.