The main reason is that it is not initially set up for a Real Estate business like other “real estate-specific” accounting software.

Initially 515, now 815.

Tariffs won't have much initial impact as 83% of US economy is Services and unimpacted, and of the goods part of economy, we Import far more than we Export so tariffs on either side will hurt foreigners far more than USA, but trade war will degrade GDP, so 10yr yield will fall more from that lower expected GDP than from mild inflation causing it to rise, but this is all irrelevant short term "re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic", so to speakHighly selective Real Estate picking/management or very selective Value based stock picking or precious metals will be the probable course to Navigate the next 30+ years. 

Initial Financing: Used a hard money loan (HML) with 10% down, interest-only at 10.95% for 1 year.

Your argument would suggest that if I bring home $2k/month in cash flow from a rental property in LA (where I live), that's a good deal, even though I probably had to put $2M cash into it initially.

It would cost less, initially, if a person kept it as four units and either rented the property out less of the time or not at all and kept it strictly as a vacation property.Any thoughts are appreciated

But I think one of the best ways to use an IRA to buy real estate while minimizing fees is to partner with others so that you don't need any loan at all. another way I'm considering using my IRA for smaller initial investments is to invest in syndications like spark rental, where you can invest as little as $5,000 for each transaction.

Use all of the proceeds and take a smaller loan initially. 

It has a higher initial cost (2~3k) but less maintenance over time with a longer warranty.

My initial research has been outside OKC, Killeen, TX, and maybe Ohio.