I hope some of the skills that i have acquired and connections made with other trades will benefit me with rehab and maintenance!

I'm trying to start the LLC for liability safety and tax benefits.

Have coffee at the kitchen table, and explain the benefits for them selling to you directly. 

But if I look elsewhere the benefits of the FHA loan become void, and the possibilities of Multifamily likely a too expensive entry.

Welcome to BP and to real estate investing.Real estate is an amazing machine for building wealth, and can be used for protecting wealth, insulating from risk and gaining tax benefits, throughout the years.

The think what a Management can do what you can't do should be selling your rooms.If they don't apply dynamic pricing, additional marketing campaigns,... to get your vacant nights booked than the main benefit of a management company for Airbnb is not there.See their listings, are they booked out on Airbnb/VRBO or are they open.

It occured to me though (and I'll be asking this as well), if I personally guarantee the loan outside of the IRA, or does that breach the personal-benefit requirements for self-directeds. 

i left eXp after 4 years joining REAL in July, both are online with no physical offices unless a team has one, such as myself. eXp did really well for me, in terms of their stock incentives the provided when i first joined in 2017. since then, they have reduced the financial benefits and the main reason why i switched over to REAL which went public on the nasdaq in july. 

I'm hoping to benefit from the vast experience this community has to offer. 

The benefit of going this route is the loan will be much less expensive than the FHA loan in the future and many allow you to get rid of the PMI after you reach 20% LTV on your property.Good luck on your search and let me know if you have any questions.