I know some people who like to hop on a plane and see the properties and others who are fine with sight unseen.

Go to the IRS website at: https://sa.www4.irs.gov/modiein/individual/index.jsp

Not entirely sure but the irs May view this as self dealings.

My company uses QBs — I switched 15 years ago from excel spread sheets after an irs audit.    

@Max MalecYou should consult the CPA/Attorney that set this up for you :) With that being said, if you formed a single member LLC, its likely that the master LLC entity was setup as a disregarded entity with the IRS (IE: has a single IEN, doesn't file its own return, and appears on your Schedule C and/or E).

It will also tell you how long each asset is depreciated for. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p946.pdf

If the Form 8825 expenses adds up to a loss for all of my houses, does this constitute as a loss to the IRS (per the 3 out of 5 years loss in their publication that they said you can claim)-OR-since I have this surge of ordinary income from the flip fee that will result in a PROFIT for the company overall, then does this mean that the LLC ultimately result in a profit even though the houses in Form 8825 showed a loss.  

While I am milling around with the other dozen or so people waiting for the auction to start I overhear someone on the phone talking about this property and how it has a $90K IRS lien on it (which I will have to pay).

I'm thinking that, if audited by the IRS, I'd need to have copies of the actual invoices and that the property management statement alone would be insufficient. 

There are many things to factor in such as customer service, speed of transactions, general knowledge and also the fees (annual and transactions).Check out the bigger pockets list of self-directed custodians.https://www.biggerpockets.com/rei/self-directed-ir...I would recommend you narrow it down to your top 3 and call each one.