Managing your manager is an ongoing thing and a pain in the rear.  

Those margins are a byproduct of educating myself which is an ongoing process.

[Note: $1,100/m is still less than the "1% Rule", which makes ongoing cash flow problematic]...

Just as I would not expect an institutional investor to buy and manage homes, I don't think I'll be doing that with the SEP either.Here's my recommendation:Hands-of investmentf: Go with the SDIRAHands-on (or potentially hands-on): Go with a typical (non-IRA) process

"Good Debt" works when tenants pay the rent, but good debt becomes bad debt when that rental income stream dries up for any reason.Some people thrive on going through the rags-to-riches-to-rags-to-riches cycle multiple times ["nothing ventured, nothing gained"], but for me, I believe the slow-and-steady-wins-the-race approach of the tortoise over that of the hare.

What are your thoughts on going about getting my first deal this way?

The reason this make the most sense is that you are able to finance all your high priced items into your mortgage and then your ready to go 15-20 years without any major surprises and hopefully less ongoing maintenance along the way.

One partner will 'silent' and be bringing the down payments of aproxiamtely 20-25%, and the other partner (me) will be doing all of the aquisition, rehab management, finding tenants, ongoing PM, etc.....I am currently involved in 3 other partnerships that own buy-n-hold rentals, but all of them are 3 people, so '33-33-33'.

Being able to make more money from the property and financial justification is typically not considered a hardship.Could you put the property under contract contingent on going to ZBA and getting the other units approved?

So far, my ongoing pest control costs are close to $0.