Almost all of which I could have done a better job of handling on my own had I given myself permission to do so and let myself out from under the shackles of "not being an expert" in the field.Food for thought: If you are going to own LESS than 3 properties and just want rental income for some diversification , the using a "turn key" provider and outsourcing your rental income management MAY be for you.

I have recently started to add to my retirement diversification with SFDs purchased through a self-directed IRA. 

@Luka MilicevicWhere is the diversification?

I am now looking to diversify and get another property or may be two on the West Coast, probably San Francisco.Would that be a good diversification?

Diversification and good debt coverage can overcome the issues.A PFS from an individual is looked at and then usually set aside.

So to me, the IRA was a logical place to go, and also offers some nice diversification to the stock side of things too.So yes, there is a LOT to know abouut SDIRA, but I think they can be a great tool.

I'm hoping to mix the strategy of buying purely for cash flow (sub 30k properties) with some higher end properties (100 - 200k) for diversification purposes.  

Since I believe that for the short/mid-term appreciation is likely to be minimal I picked up a mobile home park which is a cash flow play and offers my overall strategy some diversification. 

I hope to do a bit better, but diversification of inflation and interest rate risk combined with bondlike income is sufficient for my risk profile.BTW I also "hope" my stock portfolio will do better than 8%... 1928-2014 S&P returns did; 2005 -2014 didn't. http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/datafile/histretSP.html and a random sampling of 30 year expected returns look worse from this point (even including small cap, REIT, emerging)In summary, return is about work, skill and risk.

Monthly rents are higher than renting out long term, and as long as you account for higher vacancy you should still be able to see solid returns. 3) Invest in a long term rental first to provide stable cashflow and learn what it takes to manage, and then revisit short term rentals in a year or so as a means of diversification.