Many will cover water, pest control, repairs to the roof and exterior walls, fences, landscaping, maintenance, security, insurance, some cover cable and internet.

Unless you invest via an LLC owned by the IRA, you will not have checkbook control over the funds which means you need to run transactions (e.g. income, expenses, etc.) through the trust company who will need time to process the transactions and generally charge fees for each transaction.

I have 2 grandfathered rent controlled.

I love having complete control and not having to deal with middleman scenarios.

Call pest control.

Is statewide rent-control on the horizon? 

Better control over labor.

I'm a newbie to REI with limited capitol, living in San Francisco in a rent controlled apartment, but that may be ending soon.

There's just too much out of your control as a condo owner, since you don't own anything but the interior walls.

As others have suggested, I would probably start by getting into the home and taking control of your dad's personal possessions, particularly if there's anything of value.