The main play with turnkey rentals is appreciation and paying your loan down over time. 

Is it going to be rented in the winter time? 

Personally, I wouldn't totally disagree, but it is very much in the eyes of the beholder what "nice place to live" means.Based on your post, I would assume you are getting requests because you are a new landlord (maybe the old one was not a kind person, so tenants chose not to make any requests) and that you are asking them to pay more rent for a unit that is likely in worse condition than when they moved in.So now, you can either tell them no, or you can accommodate and potentially open up pandoras box of setting expectations that you will cater to all requests all the time, or as noted, you can remove yourself from the equation and hire a PM to handle the requests.  

The wife and I have been looking to get into rentals for some time now, section 8, to be specific.

Timing here is everything.

They accepted terms for creative financing for 1 year allowing me time to improve rents and refinance with very little down payment.

Over time, that 6-8% return can grow to 15-20%, but the key is knowing how to leverage that equity at the right time.

How much time will it take you to get permits and everything approved, then what if you come across work you didn't expect?

Andrew thanks , will contact at the proper time

I previously had a self directed IRA with Entrust and had numerous issues mostly related to the time it takes then to process requests, which can potentially cause you to lose out on deals.