We only purchase properties needing work...usually substantial work which we do internally.  

For example, I know an investor who has a townhouse in walking distance to a hospital and the word got around to the interns about this townhouse.  

I've been an international teacher for the past 6 years, so I've lived in several different countries, but not in the US.

@Dan Graney for the appliances under $500, you will want to look at electing the De Minimis Safe Harbor which allows you to expense personal property items and components of tangible property under $500. 

I already work in internal medicine and plan to do real estate on the side (selling minimally) to family and friends for flipping purposes.

@Dmitriy Fomichenko"if your plan allows for post tax contributions into Roth 401k"Are there some plans that don't have the Roth component?  

There are others that contain hard money loans along with other types of investments.To answer your specific questions:IRR is your internal rate of return, which is a cash for calculation that lets you compare different investments to each other to determine which returns more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_rate_of_ret...A targeted IRR means that the IRR the investment wants to achieve.

My long term goal is to build a diverse portfolio of domestic and international properties consisting of apartments, condominiums and various commercial properties.

I think there are some building components that can extend within the setback but we don’t have much room to work with anyway. 

Unless someone is looking to hire or take on interns or offer mentoring, you have slim pickins.