I know that there is not a hands off way to truly invest in real estate the way that I would like to be involved in it, but my ultimate goal is to do this part time and build a good reputation over time so that when I retire in about 10 years I can move into REI as a second career.

When you are retired you can decide where to take money from first depending on taxes at that time.  

I’m not in it for the appreciation I’m in it however the regular and recurring payments that will support me in retirement.

Night security, some armed retired cop should do it.Cameras covering ever inch of the exterior would help, with notices posted.Good door locks.

This is a classic "use of cash" model retiring debt at a higher interest rate than other alternative uses. :)    

You have a lot of freedom but there are also few limitations some of them include:The property purchased in your retirement account can only be used as investment, you can not live in it or recieve any other personal benefits from the investmentsYou personally can not do any work on the propertyYou can not use conventional financing and must use non-recourse loanYou can not use those funds in your personal dealYou can not borrow money from an IRA but you can however take personal loan from Solo 401k, up to max. of $50KFeel free to contact me to set up free consultation, I would need to have better understanding of the situation to give you some recommendations. 

My goal is not to eat Alpo for retirement.

I have had a non-REI corporation for years (not an LLC but pondering it currently) with separate bank account, EIN, retirement account, etc.

I am confident that you will soon reach your goal of retiring from your day job soon.

Your entity choice is going to be heavily dependent on many issues including:*your other sources of income*retirement goals/retirement plan contribution goals*partnerships/lending/source of equity*your tolerance for recordkeeping, handling legal requirements, etc.