That's true, and that's why institutional lenders can lend you money at 4.5% or 5.5%.

Does anyone have experience with any general contractors in Springfield, MA they know and can referral?

Anyone from MA or CT looking to invest or are already investing in these states?

I'm in MA where everything is expensive and the biggest tree to take down, with bucket trucks and a crane, was $3k.

My plan A to keep the note (notes) for 2-3 years and than sell to probably an institutional investor. 

I'm from SE Massachusetts and currently own a single family home and a 3 family rental property.

You cannot purchase the property personally and then assign or transfer to your IRA.Any self-directed IRA vehicle will likely take 2-3 weeks to establish, largely due to the timeframe involved in moving funds from your current institution to the new institution. 

I have a accepted offer on a two family in MA with knob and tube wiring, but I'm finding it difficult to locate a company for insurance.

Do you have a list of those lending institutions that provide such services so i can do my due diligence?

As @Jay Hinrichs points out, if one includes total returns then one starts understanding why there is so much institutional money flowing around in more expensive markets.