And since you are licensed, you can potentially do some sales on the side to increase income and save up for investing.

If you had $50K in a Self direct IRA how would you leverage that to yield short and long term dividends? 

Finding trademen and contractors is much tougher if you're self-managing.

For our second STR, we are currently researching Sherman, potentially / ideally, a less expensive duplex that we could rennovate and self manage from Dallas with workers coming to the area in mind. 

I am thinking to switch to online rent collection from receiving checks in the mail, but worried that receiving 1099k will increase the complexity during tax filing time.

Quote from @Paul Lucenti: Creative methods tend to increase risk.

A 1031 exchange doesn’t apply, but funding through a self-directed IRA can defer taxes, though profits from debt financing may trigger UBIT.To reduce taxes, consider forming an LLC for better expense deductions, offsetting gains with investment losses, or holding the property for 12+ months to qualify for lower long-term capital gains rates.This post does not create a CPA-Client relationship.

And I'd argue the average rents can be increased nearly 30% based on the current FMRs in the zip code.

Given his spending habits during his first term, it might be a wash.Costs to build new properties will probably increase.

In my case, I have residential rentals in one LLC, commercial properties in another, self storage in a third, and my real estate company operates in a fourth.