No, you won't need permits for cosmetic repairs.

Mail the return and payment to:     Internal Revenue Service     P.O.

Thanks for the mention, @Kelly O'Keefe @Jun Lopez I provide specialty tax services such as cost segregation studies, 1031 exchanges, historic tax credits, section 179D, energy tax credits, etc. rather than tax preparation services, but I'd be more than happy to connect you a CPA (or there are great ones here on BP as well).

Do you still follow the normal rule 70% of ARV - repair costs?

But even then you need some savings for closing costs & any repairs that will pop up during homeownership.

All transactions you do inside of a self-directed IRA must be "arms length", meaning that you personally can't do any work on them, provide any service, or benefit from the investments in any way.

However, the After Repair Values (ARVs) of the newly renovated properties seem to be not very high, mostly in the range of $115K - $130K.

I have an opportunity to start from scratch a property management division for a smaller established firm.My payment would be 100% commission for property management services. 

Yes you'd be able to utilize the DSCR loan (debt service coverage ratio) upto 80% cashout of the homes value .

Some advocate for factoring in debt services, while others argue for excluding them from the calculation.