Do not be concerned that you are a NEWBIE.  

My biggest concern with this is is the higher interest rate you get, which I've seen can be around 5.2% instead of the 3.6% rate you can get with a conventional loan and 20% down.

Normal maintenance is expected, but I can imagine this area wouldn't be very pleasant for a rental as far as upkeep is concerned.

A concern I have is that there aren't a lot of four bedroom homes in our neighborhood (ie are we pricing our home out of comparable range).

As far as the title question is concerned, absolutely! 

There is something called UBIT in a self directed IRA that you have to concern yourself with if you invest in real estate.If you are worried about the tax hit, you can always cash out a part and self direct the rest.Sorry about the loss of your father.Gino

I am still concerned that "they did not know what they were doing" and I may have future troubles should the need to file a claim ever come up.

It makes much more sense to put your money into high cash value permanent life insurance.

My concern is if I move them the city wants to come in and do a elevation evaluation..Thanks in advance guys!

My landlord is interested in selling the property, and the prospective buyer wants to raise the rent to $1000 (which is fair market value), and my current landlord wants to know if I would agree to the rent-raise for the remainder of the lease, in order for the sale to complete.My landlord is concerned that the sale will not close if I don't agree to the rent raise; however, in the interest of fairness - I did sign the lease with the legitimate expectation of paying $800 per month for 6 months.