Tenants will follow your lead you hand over control and they will rule you.

I agree with what others have said regarding location of the service provider being pretty low on the list of important factors in your decision.Also, I believe wholeheartedly in the individual having checkbook control of their own funds rather than paying someone else to hold their money for them as long as they are willing to learn the prohibited transactions rules and/or get qualified help when needed.

Nearby here in Nevada, I have a interesting low cost, environmentally safe, non toxic, lab proven mold control solution should you need it or anything else anything I'll be here to help.  

The only way I take this on is when I can control of the property, rehab and selling decisions.

If you can show that you had orders dated after the deal closed, no one can question that you intended to live there for at least a year.You don't have control over when you get ordered to crazy places far away from Ft Knox.

You have way more control over the data you receive/access and can submit offers way more efficiently.  

That is precisely what happened to many in 07/08.

Many of these companies try to exert extensive control and what sounds like a great opportunity on the front end could turn into a nightmare as you have to deal with unhappy rehabbers, investors, investor, etc. 

If you are not a Licensed Real Estate Agent, you cannot control money for someone else. 

Andy, Solo 401k plan is not for everyone (you must be self-employed or own a small business without full-time employees other than the business owner(s) and spouse), however if you qualify for it - in most cases it would be a much better choice for most people (you don't need a custodian with it, you don't need an LLC to gain the checkbook control, you can borrow from your plan up to $50K before retire, just to name a few advantages).