People nowadays forget the power of a paper trail....a real paper trail, not apps/emails/texts and all that crap> If you ever end up in court (small claims etc) a Judge will love a real paper trail, they don't want to be waiting while you try and find something on your phone, y'know?

I want to add the stability of real estate into my portfolio and patiently grow that investment and harvest the tax benefits of long-term investment.

Columbus & Raleigh-Durham are both great places to invest as an out-of-state new investor Short-term rentals can be challenging and is always subject to new local registration and taxes. 

However, the self employment could (or could not) pose an issue depending on how much you pay yourself yearly and what you report on your tax returns.  

We just started the process of creating an LLC so we can can track finances and submit for tax purposes.

- property tax: is it generally around 2.29%?  

A warranty company not covering a claim?

It's not worth risking the invalidation of your IRA account which would cause penalties and taxes.  

To add to this there may be some tax related questions you may want to speak with your accountant about. 

The last thing you want is to buy something and the Agent's estimate on rent and/or reassesed taxes was wrong and you end up with a non income producing property.