I'm focusing on a buy and hold strategy in hopes to create cash flow and have an early retirement from my current career.

Ive heard good and bad things.

As a newbie, you need to learn about what a good deal is and what a bad deal is.

This is probably bad advise but here’s my opinion ..if he’s a good tenant otherwise and pays his rent and he’s doing tasteful improvements that Add value and maintains his repairs why would you want to drive off such a tenant .

None of the units have dishwashers or washer/dryers, so may not be too bad, but still considering if it is feasible to have meters added so I can bill tenants for their water. 

I've heard it's possible, though costly, to dig up and remove all of the bad dirt, and replace it with new clean dirt.

Would you think that's a bad thing to invest in within my SDIRA?  

The blogs, podcasts, and articles are all excellent information havens on here for you to acquire knowledge as you progress in your real estate investment career.

Please share your experience, the good and the bad!

I wish you all the best in your real estate investing career.