If you're looking for creative ways to finance an investment in a foreclosure property, you may not need to look much further than your retirement account.

A good article ran today in Lew Sichelman's Realty Q & A column in MarketWatch. Titled "Buying Investment Property Through Your IRA," the article offers a wealth of information on how to use funds already in your IRA to invest in different types of properties. Among other things, Lew covers some of the tax strategies, limitations and regulations governing these types of purchases.

While the article doesn't discuss foreclosure properties directly, much of the information should apply to any investment property you don't plan to use as a personal residence or vacation home.

As someone who watched his 401(k) shrink to a 200.5(k) during the 2000 dot-bomb induced stock market implosion, the notion of investing retirement funds in real estate assets is something I'm very interested in exploring. If any of you have tried this, I'd love to hear about some of the experiences you've had in the process.