At this point, I just organized all my existing contacts into various groups: Colleagues, Professionals, and so forth.

Get insurance and an attorney  or other professional that can help you develop an asset protection plan. 

Classic case of a professional tenant.

I would partner with a professional REA who can give you and your partner a realistic idea of what you can afford and how much the "cost of money" will be for you two considering your individual situations.

We're planning on hiring a professional property management company to run the daily operations of the investment property as well as implement all capital improvement.The question is, can my self directed IRA invest in an LLC that I'm the managing partner?  

We also have a growing population of educated professional tenants that will target SFHs and absent landlords.

Owner had to do a lead cleanup a couple years ago b/c of CMHA, and it was professionally remediated.

Yes there is some subjectivity in appraisals, it's not an exact science but often times when the range of opinion is that huge it's because the appraiser didn't take the time to verify all of their data or isn't truly that well-versed in their market and didn't disclose that fact to the client and take measures to rectify that (i.e. consult other real estate professionals in that area to ensure that their adjustments make sense). 

As a first time investor, living out of state can be intimidating making it that much more important to work with skilled professionals. 

@Jackson Pontsler yes plus professional advice concerning partnerships to help fund deals.