This also begins YOUR title seasoning, so that when you're ready to take out a traditional mortgage, you can refinance and pay off the seller without a title seasoning issue. you can buy title insurance from the title company at closing. this is a good idea. 

Have recently started a renovation company with a friend, both of us successful business owners and talented in the trades.

A team of lenders, title companies, contractors and RE attorneys, and significant knowledge of the intricacies of real estate transactions, you will be MORE than prepared to dive feet first into your first deals and will do so with CONFIDENCE.

You might check with your Self-Directed IRA Trust Company/Custodian, they might have a brokerage connection capability where you can setup a brokerage account tied to your IRA, then you can with that brokerage to invest in various public market investments, in some cases stocks, mutual funds, ETF's, treasuries, and CD's.

Regarding contractors, I've found that the best way to find a contractor is to go through a property management company. 

Unfortunately, the septic company is taking their time, and I’m still waiting for the replacement to be completed.

The premiums didn’t make sense compared to the other options I found for the two properties I moved off this policy, nor did they align with the rates I have for other properties in my portfolio that are not on this policy.I’ve shopped this policy extensively across multiple companies and brokers.

Very different from a typical insurance company. 

Typically companies like this actually want stuff like this reported so they can see if its a bug or what is going on with their system.

But you'll have to either manage it yourself and develop a really good skill set in that or get a smaller company that doesn't have too many properties to manage who has a high skill set management for you, but then you need to pay for that.