Or is everyone just recasting the T-12 with conservative assumptions no matter what the OM says?

If the property cash flows even with conservative numbers (vacancy, repairs, reserves), it might make sense to move forward.If it’s tight and you’d be relying on room rents to stay high, it’s better to hold off, pay down your car, and work on your financing first.

Practical path: confirm rules with the custodian, price the deal with conservative leverage, get term sheets from lenders who specialize in nonrecourse to retirement accounts, and decide if lending your SD funds to an unrelated investor is cleaner for your first move.

My best advice for anyone flipping Real Estate is to run your numbers as conservatively as possible. 

A lender is always going to look at a deal objectively and conservatively, despite what a wholesaler or agent may sell you on.

I really like your sensible and conservative approach to real estate investing.

Verify rents with a local PM, stress‑test at higher rates and conservative vacancy, and only buy if it cash flows without short‑term rental income.

You can start by comparing recent sales of homes with similar house size and condition, but with varying lot sizes, to get a rough sense of what buyers are actually paying for the extra land.In your case, with a half-acre lot surrounded by larger ones, I’d suggest being conservative with your ARV estimate, maybe trimming it slightly unless you see clear evidence that lot size hasn’t mattered in recent sales.

Use conservative financing that protects sleep at night: conventional or DSCR with solid reserves, or buy with seller/private money then refi once stabilized.

Keep leverage conservative, insist on tight buy numbers with verified ARV from sold comps, and pad for carry, interest-only, and overruns.