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My question is concerning whether or not is can be a good idea to separate your real estate operations into two entities: (1) an LLC that holds your property and (2) the LLC that holds your property management operations, where the LLC (holding the property) would pay a management fee to the LLC (holding the property management operations) for its services. 

My other large concern is with budgeting.

I am mainly concerned with the Houston market.

Then most recently in Jan. 2018, I dove into E-myth Revisted, (of course) Ultimate Guide for beginners from BP, The Richest Man in Babylon and the Millionaire Real Estate Investor.

I understand your concerns about the Series LLC, but decided in favor that option, since I'm going to wind up with 8-10 owner finance loans under the solo 401k, and 8-10 individual LLCs seems cumbersome and expensive.  

As I mentioned, we are eager, but as beginners we are also cognizant of the detriment of buying a bad first deal. 3.

I definitely agree with everything @Caleb Heimsoth said. 5.2% is very low as far as historical standards are concerned. 

My concern here isn't time, money, or lack of deals, it's the fact my schedule isn't predictable in any form. 

One of the the tips is “fall in love with the ROI and not the real estate, don’t concern yourself with crime maps and school data.”