We're planning on hiring a professional property management company to run the daily operations of the investment property as well as implement all capital improvement.The question is, can my self directed IRA invest in an LLC that I'm the managing partner?  

Ontario has the most anti landlord/tenant friendly regulations in North America in my opinion.

Overturned in King County Court, appeal pending. 2017 Rapidly rising cost of rental housing Rental Agreement Regulation amendment SMC 7.24.35,36,38 limits move in charges and requires provision of payment plan.

Owner had to do a lead cleanup a couple years ago b/c of CMHA, and it was professionally remediated.

Yes there is some subjectivity in appraisals, it's not an exact science but often times when the range of opinion is that huge it's because the appraiser didn't take the time to verify all of their data or isn't truly that well-versed in their market and didn't disclose that fact to the client and take measures to rectify that (i.e. consult other real estate professionals in that area to ensure that their adjustments make sense). 

As a first time investor, living out of state can be intimidating making it that much more important to work with skilled professionals. 

@Jackson Pontsler yes plus professional advice concerning partnerships to help fund deals.

You will need to do a 506(c) if you wish to advertise and that is accredited onlyYou can do a 506(b) which allows non accredited but sophisticated but you cannot advertisePublishing info requesting people to fund a deal is not recommended since it violated sec regulations (note I am not an attorney)

Without professionals involved in the deal like a commercial realtor, you need to do a lot more than the usual due diligence. 

You should not be considering being a landlord until you have done extensive studying on real estate investing and have also learned all of your state landlord tennat regulations.