An IRA or 401(k) is best suited for passive income, which includes interest, dividends, royalties, rent from real property and the future sale of such a passively held asset.The other side of the equation is ensuring that as you conduct such a transaction, you are not personally benefiting in any way (such as a commission on the transaction) or adding value to the IRA/401(k) through the provision of goods or services. 

https://www.statesman.com/news/20190418/austin-region-fastest-growing-large-metro-in-nation-8-years-running-data-shows  Its job creation that is always the driver...

Groundfloor recently posted an empirical analysis of estimated ARV for all loans that subsequently repaid in 2018.The data shows that the median predicted value was 4.7% lower than the sales price, while the median appraisal value was 8.6% lower.

.#4 Compile Your Prices into a Spreadsheet or Estimating SoftwareOnce you start to get a better understanding of Labor and Material costs you will want to store this data into a spreadsheet or software that you can use to help you streamline the estimating process.The Book on Estimating Rehab Costs comes with a spreadsheet that you can use to help you populate your own database of labor pricing and material pricing.

Also in the news this week that NY lost 48,000 in population in the last year:https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/2019/04/18/population-loss-plagues-new-york/3482885002/and several articles have noted that the number of TAXPAYERS in NY is dropping faster than the population:https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Study-finds-New-York-losing-the-most-tax-payers-9223778.php Draw your own conclusions about this data.  

As @Stuart Grazier said, if you have boots on the ground in Florida that can be a great starting point...but do some research to ensure that market is where you want to invest.

As such there are regulations in place to ensure the banks are not taking too much risk with everyone's money and throwing them into high yield, high risk investments.

If the sales data doesn't show buyers are willing to pay more for the systems, then it's hard to justify a bump in value on an appraisal.

Real estate agents and appraisers have access to their local MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and can pull all the recent sales data for a particular area. 

I can’t speak to PA laws, but it would be very difficult (as you are aware from personal experience) to ensure quality work on your property if they hire their own people.