I'm considering doing some investing using a SDIRA, but my business manager of over 20 years says he is "not a big fan as I've seen them attacked by the IRS on numerous occasions".  

Life insurance proceeds are tax free.There are term-life insurance now that you can get cash from if you become terminally, chronically or critically ill (like cancer, heart attack or stroke).

Sometimes when you apply for a commercial loan as a borrower on an individual basis and the lender insists that you form an entity so that they can get a personal guarantee, the validity of the guarantee can be attacked on the basis it is not a"true" guarantee.

@Roxanne McClainHi Roxanne,If you are going to be a Pet Landlord, you might want to think about having "Pet Rules" for the Pet owners in the lease (a dogs paw print on the lease won't hold up in court).Then if there's a violation of your "Pet Rules" you could simply remind the resident they have to follow the reasonable rules of conduct regarding their pet, or you could (possibly) serve an eviction notice for "pet rules violation" (if your local jurisdiction will evict for that).Also an animal that has attacked a person or another animal on the property might need to be removed immediately to avoid a potential liability issue for yourself.

Love the attitude of attacking it head-on and if nothing else, using this property as a learning experience.  

The fact that there isn't much case law provides more security than having a large body of case law behind it, in my opinion - it shows that the laws surrounding the entity are clearly stated and people aren't willing to try attack the structure.

@Jeremy LeePhishing attack??

It will more likely prompt a attack as opposed to protect you from one.Based on the fact that you state "they clear a decent profit most months" indicates it is a ongoing struggle and would be better to liquidate and move to a more secure and higher quality investment.

The clutter and sheer amount of trash in this place was more than we expected, but once we cleaned it out and saw what we were working with we developed a plan for how to attack this rehab that is working thus far. 

That’s just my opinion though, everyone has their own creative ways of attacking it.