Hire a lawyer and take the seller to court for failing to complete the inspections required and agreed to.

I don't see how you would be able to prevent the tenant from hiring an agent (just as they could hire an attorney or a DPOA to negotiate for them if they were on vacation or in the hospital, or their court appointed guardian could negotiate on their behalf), but you also don't have to pay for it.

    - you will need professional liability, and workers comp., that you may or may not need       for a different type of business.Hope that helps. 

If this is a non- prohibited arrangement and thus allowed, how long does it take to set up the self-direct fund and do I use an attorney, my investment company Merrill Lynch or some other professional?

If it is determine that utilities exist on site, you will need to hire a civil engineering company to coordinate with the utility companies or manage any necessary utility relocation. 

My OCD was kicking and wanted to ensure I was being professional and some cya. 

Is the call flow something similar to:introduce yourselftell them you're an investorask them if they have ever considered selling their propertyexplain that I'm honest, professional and trustworthyI'd love to hear some specifics with CL calls with landlords!

Just a couple other tips - get professional photography and if it can’t be in a HGTV show, spend the time and money to make it cute.

How professional should the presentation be?

For example when a banks sells their inventory of foreclosed properties they hire a Realtor, not a wholesaler.